WOODBRIDGE — Crews are standing by to take down the iconic Potomac Mills sign.
The 140-foot tall sign along Interstate 95 is leaning, blown askew by wind gusts topping 70 mph hour on Friday, March 2.
The leaning sign prompted a closure of a portion of the southbound lanes of I-95 between Prince William Parkway and just south of Dale Boulevard. The closure remained in place through Saturday.
Transurban, operators of the I-95 Express Lanes lifted tolls on the lanes, allowing for more capacity on the southbound portion of the highway. The lanes were expected to remain free into Sunday.
95 Express Lanes will remain toll free and pointed southbound into Sunday to accommodate crews starting work tonight on the sign structure.
— VA Express Lanes (@VAExpressLanes) March 3, 2018
Drivers can use the highway entrance from Dale Boulevard to access the main lanes of I-95 south.
A State Police command post is set up next to IKEA Furniture in Woodbridge. And a crane is on standby, where crews will use it to demolish the sign.
“The cranes cannot set up to begin the removal until the winds are less than 13mph. It will truly depend on the weather,” VDOT spokeswoman Ellen Kamilakis told me via email.
VDOT suggested drivers avoid the area altogether.
If you’re coming from MD (east of DC) and intend to use 95SB past Dale City, consider using 301 instead. 95SB remains closed at PW Pkwy although @VAExpressLanes are open SB & toll free.
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) March 3, 2018
Wind gusts subsided substantially overnight, but winds were measured at 18 mph with gusts up to 29 mph at 10 a.m. at Regan National Airport.
Winds are forecast to be between 8 and 13 mph on Sunday night.
I’m posting updates on the sign situation, and the rest of the day’s storm clean-up info on our Twitter page.
The towering Potomac Mills sign has been a staple of the landscape since the shopping mall opened as an outlet center in 1985.
But it’s no stranger to high winds.
Ferocious winds that spawned wildfires in February 2011 blew out the original white sign. The winds did not damage the poles that support the circular sign.
It was replaced later that year with the blue sign that is affixed to the tall poles today.
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