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TextDriving Through Braddock
Fair Lakes Parkway Detour Begins Early July: Through Traffic at Fairfax County Parkway to Use Fair Lakes Circle
During the first week of July, a six-month detour begins for through
traffic on Fair Lakes Parkway at Fairfax County Parkway, as part of the
ongoing interchange construction at this location.
The first phase of the detour will prohibit Fair Lakes Parkway through
traffic at the Fairfax County Parkway. Motorists will be directed from
Fair Lakes Parkway to Fair Lakes Circle and back to Fair Lakes
Parkway.
Motorists will continue to have access to and from the Fairfax County
Parkway during this phase of the detour, which will be in place through
the fall 2011. Electronic message signs will be in place to direct
drivers through the detour. It is expected to add about five to ten
minutes to trips through the area.
The next phases of the detour, for traffic heading from Monument Drive
to westbound Fair Lakes Parkway and left turns from Fair Lakes Parkway to
Fairfax County Parkway, are scheduled for this fall, and will also be
announced in advance. In addition to the detour, the speed limit on Fair
Lakes Parkway will be reduced from 45 mph to 35 mph.
The new $69.5 million interchange at Fairfax County Parkway and Fair
Lakes Parkway will improve pedestrian and cyclist access, widen more than
three miles of the Fairfax County Parkway, and improve traffic flow by
separating local and Parkway traffic through this busy area. The entire
project is scheduled for completion in 2013.
More details on this project are available at:
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/northernvirginia/fairfax_county_parkway-fair_lakes.asp.
Start of Guinea Road Bridge Project Delayed
Since the Community Information Meeting held on June 3 to discuss this emergency bridge replacement project, a number of changes in the design have been made by the VDOT project team. The project was originally scheduled to begin in July.
As discussed in the meeting, plans have been finalized to encase and protect the sanitary sewer line that runs parallel to the east side of Guinea Road. VDOT has also determined that, for safety reasons, it will extend the sidewalk on both sides of the bridge for several hundred feet within the existing right-of-way. Finally, to preclude a collapse of the two existing impaired culverts due to the continuing presence of heavy equipment on the bridge itself, the contract has been modified to include installation of a temporary culvert. This pre-construction work will be completed concurrently with the sanitary sewer encasement, and may necessitate a one-time weekend closure of the road. Formal bids are due on July 20 and the start of this project has now slipped to August. Further updates will follow next month.
Adaptive Traffic Signals Coming to Braddock Road
VDOT is in the process of implementing a new traffic signal control
technology called Insync adaptive traffic signal controls on Braddock
Road (Rt. 123 to Roberts) near GMU. Currently VDOT uses time of day
traffic signal timing, but this new technology changes traffic signal
timings based on traffic demand and fluctuations. After having been
implemented successfully in many parts of the country VDOT has begun
rolling it out throughout the state, including Warrenton last month, to
test different conditions so that they can determine where it yields the
most benefit.
It is being implemented near Mason on a pilot basis to see if this
technology addresses the traffic fluctuations associated with class
schedules and other events at the University.
VDOT’s current plan is to introduce this technology during the weekend
of July 30th. Even though they do not anticipate major complications, the
system may need some adjustments during the first week or two. If too
many issues are created the old system can be operational again within a
day.
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