RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Jeff Caldwell 804-524-6179 richmondinfo@VirginiaDOT.org Sara Cross 804-524-6387

RICH-64 Aug. 26, 2004

Route 288 to Open From Route 6 to Route 60 Friday Afternoon

CHESTERFIELD—The long-awaited opening of Route 288 between Route 6 (Patterson Avenue) and Route 60 (Midlothian Turnpike) including a new James River Bridge crossing is just a day away. The new route will significantly cut commute times across the river when it opens tomorrow.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and APAC-Atlantic, Inc. are working from dawn to dusk seven days a week to give motorists access to the full interchanges at Route 60, Route 711 (Robious Road), and the new bridge over the James River. This segment is slated for opening Friday afternoon. Crews continue to finish the details on this portion of the project and motorists should use caution in this area.

This segment connects to previously opened portions of Route 288 between Route 6 and Interstate 64 in Goochland County. Once this segment is open, motorists will be able to drive Route 288 from Midlothian Turnpike (Route 60) to I-64 in approximately 12 minutes. This is a significant timesavings over the other available river crossings including Chippenham Parkway’s Willey Bridge and Huguenot Bridge. Typical commutes using these facilities to traverse between the Midlothian and Short Pump areas now last 35 to 45 minutes.

“We are very excited to see this section of Route 288 open to motorists, and we know motorists are eager to use it,” said Thomas A. Hawthorne, P.E., VDOT’s Richmond district administrator. “We ask drivers to use caution when driving through this section as it will still be an active work zone when we first open it to traffic. There will still be ongoing work to totally complete construction in this area for several more weeks.”

Crews will continue to work diligently until the entire corridor is open to traffic. The final portion of Route 288 between Route 60 and Route 76 is slated for completion later this fall, but no exact dates are available at this time.

Route 288 was officially named the World War II Veterans Memorial highway and Bridge earlier this month. For more information about the project, visit www.VirginiaDOT.org or www.Route288.com.
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