Construction begins on Va. Route 9 road project through Hillsboro

Preliminary work on the Route 9 renovation through Hillsboro, Virginia will soon begin with tree clearing. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)

Road construction begins Wednesday to improve the flow of traffic on Virginia Route 9 through historic Hillsboro, Virginia, with work expected to take at least a year and a half to complete.

More than 17,000 commuters take Va. 9 through the tiny town of Hillsboro, Virginia, every day. In late November, Loudoun County allocated $7.5 million for a $14.3 million contract, which will start out building roundabouts on either end of the road’s 0.7-mile stretch through town.

The roundabouts are critical, because they will help keep traffic moving toward detours when more intrusive one-lane operations and partial closures begin later this year.

Drivers commuting from Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia won’t be affected by road closures for several months — until late summer or early fall — but flagging operations and movement of heavy construction equipment will temporarily slow traffic on Va. 9.

The contract calls for the work to be completed within 428 days, but Hillsboro Mayor Roger Vance said there are significant financial incentives for Archer Western Construction to minimize the number of road closures and complete the project sooner.

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up