I-95 Bottlenecks To Be Discussed At Public Forums In NoVA

Bottlenecks on Interstate 95 in the Northern Virginia area, especially around the Woodbridge and Fredericksburg portions, are notoriously numbing. Whether you're returning from a weekend trip or headed to a workday destination, traffic often slows to a near-standstill.

Enter the I-95 Corridor Improvement Plan, Virginia's data-driven study to identify key problem areas and identify potential solutions and areas for additional review and study. This week and next, area residents will get a chance to have their say to the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The first is 6-8 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at South County Middle School (8700 Laurel Crest Drive) in Lorton. The second is 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 23, at James Monroe High School (2300 Washington Avenue) in Fredericksburg.

Even ahead of the meetings, the study already has pinpointed several especially troublesome areas — places that will come as no surprise to frequent travelers on the span. WTOP, for example, points out that the traffic jams over the Occoquan are so much worse than at other spots that they skew a review of potential improvements. To wit:

Overall, at least 70% of delays are consistent and recurring, state data show, rather than due to crashes. Weekends are frequently as bad as weekdays, with little assurance of how long a trip might take.

"There are many, many more problems on the 95 corridor than there are resources to try to address them, even when we're focusing on just the top 25 percent of areas," Virginia Deputy Transportation Secretary Nick Donohue told the radio station. "The harder work starts, which is, 'OK, why is this happening?' And then, 'What can we do to seek to address this?' "

Meanwhile, a bit farther south, construction recently began along a 10-mile stretch of I-95, where Transurban is extending the reversible 95 Express Lanes from Route 610 to Route 17 near Fredericksburg. As pointed out by the Washington Post, the $565-million project is part of the state's plan to create a network of more than 90 miles of HOT lanes by 2022.

The project is one of several projects in a $1 billion deal the state announced earlier this year. As part of the deal, Transurban has also agreed to build a new reversible ramp — a $50-million project — connecting the 95 Express Lanes at Opitz Boulevard to enhance access to the popular Potomac Mills shopping center. And the Virginia Department of Transportation will build and maintain a new southbound auxiliary lane, a $30-million project, on I-95 in Woodbridge to address a traffic bottleneck at the Occoquan Bridge.

Meanwhile, here are some things you can review before the aforementioned meetings, per the CTB:

General Information Along Corridor:

• I-95 Study Area
• I-95 Current Major Improvements Table
• I-95 Recurring and Non-Recurring Delay
• I-95 Towing and Safety Service Patrol Coverage
• Public Bus Service Along Corridor
• Passenger and Freight Rail Along Corridor
• Persons Moved Along Corridor
• Long Bridge Project Summary
• Park and Ride Lots Along Corridor

Northern Virginia District:

• I-95 in Northern Virginia District: Existing Conditions