With ongoing development of homes and businesses surrounding it, busy Belmont Ridge Road in Loudoun County, Virginia, has carried just one lane of traffic each way, where it crosses the Dulles Greenway.
Starting Friday, Virginia’s Department of Transportation will begin a project to widen approximately a half-mile of Belmont Ridge Road (Route 659) from two lanes to four at the Dulles Greenway (Route 267).
Construction barrels, electronic sign boards and temporary signs will shift drivers on Belmont Ridge, and require U-turns and workarounds for cars and trucks exiting the Greenway.
Around 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, the eastbound Dulles Greenway ramp — which carries vehicles traveling from Leesburg and farther west — will shift onto temporary pavement while part of the ramp onto Belmont Ridge is reconstructed.
Because of the shift, traffic will be unable to turn left onto northbound Belmont Ridge Road.
The effect on car drivers will be minimal — they’ll have to drive a few hundred yards and make a U-turn at Broadlands Boulevard to head north on Belmont Ridge.
However, since trucks are unable to navigate a tight U-turn, truckers trying to go north on Belmont Ridge Road will have to exit the Greenway at Claiborne Parkway (Route 901) and double back on Broadlands Boulevard before making a right turn to head north on Belmont Ridge.
Both Claiborne Parkway and Broadlands Boulevard are built to carry trucks, but the project will mean more of the heavy vehicles than usual will travel them during the project, which is expected to be completed in mid-spring 2020.
According to VDOT, around the same time Friday, a portion of the ramp from southbound Belmont Ridge Road to the eastbound Dulles Greenway will be shifted to the left onto temporary pavement for ramp reconstruction.
Other improvements as part of the project include:
- A new traffic signal, including a flashing yellow arrow, at Belmont Ridge Road and the westbound Dulles Greenway on-and-off-ramps.
- Partially reconstructing the ramp from southbound Belmont Ridge to the eastbound Greenway, and moving the ramp entrance sightly south of its current location.
- Repaving and re-striping Belmont Ridge Road, just north and south of the bridge.
- Retiming and adjusting the traffic signal at Belmont Ridge Road and Sycolin Road.
When the Belmont Ridge Road at the Dulles Greenway project is done, drivers on Belmont Ridge Road will have two lanes in either direction at the interchange, with two-foot-wide shoulders on both sides. On the bridge, the widening is being done entirely within the existing deck.
See the detours for cars and trucks during the project:
