WASHINGTON – The Fairfax County Board wants to work with leaders in Montgomery County in Maryland, and state officials in Virginia and Maryland, to improve driving conditions across the American Legion Bridge, according to a resolution approved Tuesday.
The board will ask the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to prepare a letter that supports bridge improvements outlined in a recent study from the Virginia Department of Transportation. As a way to alleviate traffic, the study recommends extending the 495 Express Lanes across the bridge to the I-270 spur in Montgomery County.
Between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., cars driving from Virginia to Maryland on the Legion Bridge travel only 22.5 miles per hour. The Key Bridge and Chain Bridge are the only other Potomac River road crossings that average comparable slowdowns during rush hour.
Virginia wants to build an additional Potomac River crossing between the Legion Bridge and the Point of Rocks Bridge along U.S. 15, which links Loudoun County, Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland.
WTOP’s Max Smith contributed to this report.
