On Tuesday, Oct. 13 the Virginia Department of Transportation will begin the final phase of road construction in the effort to build a new bridge over the Rappahannock River.
Construction crews will demolish an existing overpass, that stands about 15 feet tall on the southbound portion of Interstate 95 at Route 17 in Stafford County, and replace it with a new, taller overpass. The higher bridge means will eliminate potential strikes and collisions by trucks and other oversized vehicles driving underneath.
The traffic shift will occur in three phases as weather permits, with phase one starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday night as the southbound overpass will be reduced to two lanes near Route 17. By 9 p.m., traffic will be reduced to one lane and, by 2 p.m. the following Wednesday, all southbound lanes will be reopened with traffic traveling over an existing middle overpass.
Several loop ramps for Route 17 and the I-95 southbound exits will be temporarily closed for the new overpass to be built. Starting on the night of October 7 and 8, all I-95 southbound traffic exiting to Route 17 will use a single off-ramp while traffic going south on Route 17 will turn left at a temporary traffic signal.
Traffic headed north on Route 17 will also turn left to enter the I-95 southbound ramp at a temporary traffic signal. Both signals are already installed and will begin flashing on October 5.
This project is part of the I-95 Southbound Rappahannock River Crossing megaproject that began in August 2018. The cost for construction on the project is reported by VDOT to be $132 million and is being performed by Dinwiddie-based company Wagman Heavy Civil and Maryland based JMT Engineering.
The project’s goal is to reduce I-95’s southbound congestion by providing an additional route for local traffic traveling between Route 17 and Route 3 without merging into the interstate’s general-purpose lanes and to increase its traffic capacity by adding new lanes.
Construction on the project is expected to be completed by May 2022.
