Seeking cheaper Woodbridge interchange design, leaders launch study

It’s back to the drawing board for the long talked about interchange at Routes and 123 in Woodbridge.

Prince William County’s Department of Transportation is conducting a “Strategically Targeted Affordable Roadway Solutions” study, also known as the STARS, to identify new, cost-effective designs for an interchange that would untangle traffic in the busy intersection, as well as provide easy access to the nearby Belmont Bay neighborhood and Virginia Railway Express commuter rail station.

The study is a joint effort between the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation.

According to Paolo Belita, with the county transportation department, the study will include the following elements:

• Data collection and identification of project needs
• Analysis of future conditions, such as traffic volume
• Development of interchange possibilities, including concept screening and refinement
• Overview of these possibilities, which may include public involvement

Altogether, Belita expects that the study will be completed late this year or early next year. While the study gets underway, crews are in the final stretches of a $165 million project to widen Route 1 from four to six lanes between Marys Way and Annapolis ways, where a new interchange would be built.

The road widneing project should warp up this fall.

Potential designs

Five years ago, planners had coalesced around a design that would carry Route 123 traffic on two new bridges over Route 1, providing a direct link between the Belmont Bay neighborhood and Interstate 95. The unfunded, $64 million interchange would have been a massive project, which would have included four ramps to carry Route 1 traffic up to meet Route 123.

The project would have required a public land grab, too, as designs indicated it would take up most of the parking lot at Station Plaza, which is home to a B-Thrifty and Astoria Pizza. In 2017, the project was unpopular with state officials which ranked it 335th in importance statewide, out of about 430 projects, and the 25th most important project in the region.

The state’s overall transportation scoring process, Smart Scale, didn’t recommend funding the project.

Today, planners are considering scaled-back designs, primarily reviewing “partial” interchange designs that could separate the two roads, as well as include some ramps. Whatever is built here will most likely be a largely scaled-down version of what was originally proposed.

While no one interchange design is favored, the diverging diamond interchange, or DDI is a popular alternative throughout Virginia. Diverging diamonds were recently opened on Interstate 66 and I-95  in Haymarket and Stafford, respectively.

Prince William County is also building a new one at Balls Ford Road and Route 234 near Manassas. The diverging diamond is popular because it removes all left-turns, signgigantly lowering the possibility of a head-on collision.

North Woodbridge’s Small Area Plan

The possible interchange designs are limited by North Woodbridge’s Small Area Plan which is focused on providing pedestrian connectivity in the area.

In other words, the interchange needs to be easily walkable so that visitors aren’t forced to drive from one side to the other. County leaders adopted the plan last fall, and envision the area as an urban, walkable destination where people live, work, and play.

At the moment, the Station Plaza shopping center is scheduled for demolition. While it’s unclear what is to go in its place, the land is zoned for mixed-use development, which could include a mixture of apartments, offices, retail stores, and restaurants.

Widening more of Route 1 

On August 4, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved $33 million to widen Route 1 for anout a mile and a half, between Marys Way and Featherstone Road in Woodbridge. The project involves widening the road from a four-lane undivided highway to a six-lane divided highway.

Along with a wider highway, crews will also build a 10-foot wide multi-modal trail and a five-foot-wide sidewalk along the sides of the route.

This is the final phase of an effort to widen a five-mile stretch of the highway between Cardinal Drive and Annapolis Way, from four to six lanes.

Further south on Route 1, Prince William County taxpayers in 2012 shelled out $65 million to widen a half-mile portion of the highway between Brady’s Hill and Joplin roads, just outside the entrance to Quantico Marine Corps Base. The initial $47 million price tag, approved by voters in a 2006 bond referendum, ballooned when crews ran into trouble relocating electrical, water, and sewer lines in the area to make way for the wider road.

Multiple roadside businesses were torn down to make way for the wider road.