Effort to Add 1,000 Spaces to Commuter Lot Nears Completion

NORTH STAFFORD, Va. — Work on an expanded commuter parking lot in North Stafford, next to the popular Stafford Marketplace shopping center, is nearly complete.

Here’s the latest update from the Virginia Department of Transportation:

Construction work is 75 percent complete on a 1,000-space expansion of a Virginia Department of Transportation Park & Ride facility in Stafford County on Va. 610 near Interstate 95.

The project is on schedule for a late October 2014 opening. The expansion doubles commuter parking spaces at this location. The lot is one of the busiest and largest ride-sharing locations for carpooling, vanpooling and transit in the Fredericksburg area.

Construction work began on the $12.9 million improvement in May 2013. The project is estimated to generate 43 jobs over a three-year period, and an additional $6.7 million in personal income earnings, $469,000 in state tax revenue, and nearly $40,000 in local tax revenue, according to an economic analysis by VDOT’s Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research.

While the project was under design, VDOT invited Fredericksburg area commuters to submit suggestions to promote safe and orderly traffic flow. The expanded commuter lot will include:

·         A consolidated, central location for carpool pickup and dropoff  

·         A bus pickup and dropoff bay that can accommodate four passenger buses

·         An extended sidewalk along Staffordboro Boulevard

·         Left and right turn lanes into a new lot entrance on Staffordboro Boulevard

·         A roundabout that connects the commuter lot to Doc Stone Road, Juggins Road and Moncure Lane, improving access management to the site.

Improvements to the existing parking lot are also planned. The existing lot will be re-paved, and new lane and space markings will be painted to clearly define traffic patterns in the lot.

Upcoming Traffic Shifts

Later this week, traffic will start to be transitioned to the newly constructed section of the parking lot.

VDOT will close the triangle-shaped portion of the existing commuter lot at 7 p.m., on Thursday, July 24. This portion of the lot contains approximately 130 parking spaces.

Click Here to view a map of the lot.

At the same time, 280 new parking spaces will open. The new spaces are located in the northernmost corner of the lot, near the Stafford County water tower. Signs will be posted to guide lot users to these parking spaces.

 

In addition, motorists should be on alert for a new traffic pattern at the roundabout at Doc Stone Road, Moncure Lane, Juggins Road and the commuter lot access road.

 

Workers are completing the curb in the roundabout and building raised islands on each roadway approach over the next two weeks. Motorists should stay alert for signs and barrels guiding traffic through the work zone.