GAINESVILLE, Va. — What do you get when you mix a major construction project and Jimmy Buffet? On the weekend of August 16 through 18, it’s a recipe for road delays.
Virginia Department of Transportation officials working to improve the intersection at U.S. 29 and Linton Hall Road, where a series new bridges will carry traffic on Linton Hall Road over U.S. 29 and a railroad, told drivers Wednesday to soon expect major delays in the area.
All the traffic in busy intersection will be reduced to one lane in each direction, on U.S. 29 and Linton Hall Road, so traffic can be shifted to a new bridge over the railroad. But major delays of up to an hour are expected over the weekend the work will take place, and officials have posted a detour, according to information presented at a town hall meeting last night:
– 8/16 9 PM
– Rt 29 NB Left & Right Turns Closed
– Rt 29 SB Left Turns Closed
– Linton Hall Rd WB Limited Lanes (Right, Left & Straight
– John Marshall Hwy WB closed and detoured via Catharpin movements permitted)
(Local traffic permitted to Dave’s Store Lane) Linton Hall & Rt 29 Intersection Construction
– 8/17
– Rt 29 NB moved into Stage 3 Configuration Single Lane early
morning
– Midnight I66 WB to RT 29 SB ramp closed. Traffic detoured to Rt
– Rt 29 SB moved into Stage 3 Configuration Single Lane early morning
– Midday Linton Hall Rd & Rt 29 Signal would be reopened to its 29 NB Exit and allowed to make a left at the Rt 29 Signal.complete Stage 3 Configuration with the exception of single lane closures on RT 29 NB & SB.
– 8/17 Cont. & 8/18
– Construction of the Ramp G (I66 WB to RT 29 SB) detour would begin immediately following the closure of the existing ramp and the moving of SB Rt 29 into the Stage 3 Configuration.
Construction of this Detour is anticipated to be completed on 8/18
“There has been a lot of planning on VDOT’s part and the contractor’s part, and we’re asking for for everyone’s patience,” said Mike Trabucco, a spokesman for Shirley Contractors, the firm overseeing construction of the project.
Nearby the construction area sits Jiffy Lube Live, one of the region’s largest outdoor concert venues. It’s here, on the weekend when the detours are planned, that singer Jimmy Buffett will make his annual pilgrimage to the Jiffy Lube stage, drawing thousands of fans to the concert venue.
VDOT officials hope drivers heed the warnings and plan to take another route. Instead of using Linton Hall Road to Wellington Road to access Jiffy Lube Live, a better route around the mess from Interstate 66 would be Prince William Parkway to Balls Ford Road, to Wellington Road.
The new $267 million bridge over the railroad and U.S. 29 will be completely finished by this fall. Two new bridges — one that will carry traffic on U.S. 29 over railroad tracks and another that will carry traffic on Va. 55 (John Marshall Highway, which intersects with Linton Hall Road at U.S. 29) over railroad tracks — should open sometime next year.
Currently, U.S. 29 crosses the railroad and it’s often a site where vehicles both big that are sitting on the a railroad crossing and small are hit by trains, including the latest accident last week. No one was injured, and signs have been posted at the intersection warning drivers not to stop on the tracks.
