The view from above Stafford’s new diverging diamond interchange where piling driving, lane shifts are about to start

Construction on a new diverging diamond interchange is ramping up in Stafford County.

Crews are ready to begin building new bridges at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Courthouse Road, at the center of the county. The diverging diamond interchange will replace a traditional diamond interchange that dates back to the highway’s construction in the 1950s and 60s.

Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Hannon tells us:

“What people are seeing right now at the interchange, you’re probably driven by and have seen a big crane in the median. That crane is there to help us drive piles for the new bridges that will be built over Interstate 95, for drivers on Courthouse Road to travel on.”

This means there will be temporary changes at the construction site, as drivers will use new entrance and exit ramps situated parallel to the existing ramps. Shifting traffic onto the new temporary ramps will allow crews to build new bridge abutments that will serve as part of the new diverging diamond.

Drivers will begin using the new ramps on Tuesday, Jan. 23. There will also be lane closures that same week that are associated with the traffic shift

On Courthouse Road at the interchange, a single will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily on Thursday, Jan. 18, and again on Monday, Jan. 22 through Wednesday, Jan. 24.

Crews will perform overhead traffic signal work in connection with the interchange ramp shift. One-way, alternating traffic will be directed through the work zone.

On Tuesday, Jan. 23 and Wednesday, Jan. 24, there will be a single lane of I-95 northbound closed, reducing the northbound portion of the highway from three to two lanes, from 10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 until 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24. Crews will be installing concrete barrier along the interstate and temporary ramps

Also on Courthouse Road near the interchange, Courthouse Road will be reduced to one lane from 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 to 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24 for overhead traffic signal work in connection with the interchange ramp shift.

Work on the diverging diamond interchange began last summer and is expected to wrap up by 2020. This newer type of interchange is new to the Fredericksburg region.

Hannon tells us:

“A diverging diamond interchange essentially lowers the number conflict points between vehicles at the point where they are merging on and off the interstate at Courthouse Road. It will allow us to let left turns to happen al little more freely, and we achieve that by having one side of traffic, westbound, for instance, crossing over, briefly, to what drivers would consider the opposite side of the road. But they are guided very heavily in doing that by signs, pavement markings… very often drivers who drive through a diverging diamond interchange, I think when you look at the design, at first glance you might feel a little intimidated. But once you have the chance to look through it at the windshield level, it’s very evident which direction you should be traveling in and people, very quickly, feel a great sense of comfort with it.”

The first diverging diamond interchange in Northern Virginia opened last year in Haymarket.

Stafford County Garrisonville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer said the new interchange has been a long time coming.

“That new interchange started in development around 1990. It started out as being a normal looking cloverleaf… you would see it as being familiar at any intersection across the country, the looping, getting on and off. We have some creative engineers who have used this diverging diamond on a number of occasions, there are several around the state, and they swear by them,” said Dudenhefer.

Dudenhefer returned to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors this month after serving as a state delegate in Richmond. Long interested in local transportation issues, the Republican says he’s focused on improving county roads, including widening Route 610 further west from Eustace Road to Joshua Road.