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NOVA-NR06-30 Aug. 4, 2006 |
Fourth Lane Opens on Route 123 Bridge Over the Occoquan River
Motorists now have four lanes on Route 123 from I-95 to the Fairfax County Parkway
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will open a fourth lane on the Route 123 bridge after this evenings rush hour. Motorists in Prince William County will see a noticeable difference while crossing the Occoquan River with the additional northbound lane in place for Monday morning’s commute.
“The new bridge span has been temporarily striped to accommodate two southbound lanes and two northbound lanes,” said Robert Price, VDOT’s resident engineer for Prince William County. “Motorists will no longer have to jockey for position and worry about merging at the last minute as a lane ends at the bridge. For the fist time ever, motorists can travel from I-95 in Prince William County to the Fairfax County Parkway with two lanes in each direction.”
The former two-lane Route 123 bridge crossing the Occoquan River is being replaced with two concrete bridges with three lanes in each direction, 10-foot shoulders, a median and a sidewalk on the south side of the bridge. A 640-foot long, 12-foot sound barrier will be built between the travel lanes and the sidewalk on the southbound side to protect apartment balconies in the Riverwalk development.
Construction of the $24.6 million new bridge began in October 2003 as the final phase of widening Route 123 for eight miles between Burke Lake Road in Fairfax County and the Occoquan River in Prince William County. VDOT anticipates the future northbound span to be completed in the spring of 2007.
Route 123 carries about 32,000 vehicles a day and is expected to see traffic volumes climb to 119,000 vehicles a day by 2020.
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NR06-30
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will open a fourth lane on the Route 123 bridge after this evenings rush hour. Motorists in Prince William County will see a noticeable difference while crossing the Occoquan River with the additional northbound lane in place for Monday morning’s commute.
“The new bridge span has been temporarily striped to accommodate two southbound lanes and two northbound lanes,” said Robert Price, VDOT’s resident engineer for Prince William County. “Motorists will no longer have to jockey for position and worry about merging at the last minute as a lane ends at the bridge. For the fist time ever, motorists can travel from I-95 in Prince William County to the Fairfax County Parkway with two lanes in each direction.”
The former two-lane Route 123 bridge crossing the Occoquan River is being replaced with two concrete bridges with three lanes in each direction, 10-foot shoulders, a median and a sidewalk on the south side of the bridge. A 640-foot long, 12-foot sound barrier will be built between the travel lanes and the sidewalk on the southbound side to protect apartment balconies in the Riverwalk development.
Construction of the $24.6 million new bridge began in October 2003 as the final phase of widening Route 123 for eight miles between Burke Lake Road in Fairfax County and the Occoquan River in Prince William County. VDOT anticipates the future northbound span to be completed in the spring of 2007.
Route 123 carries about 32,000 vehicles a day and is expected to see traffic volumes climb to 119,000 vehicles a day by 2020.
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NR06-30
Page last modified: Aug. 18, 2006
