One of the last traffic lights slowing drivers between historic Leesburg and Sterling in Loudoun County has gone dark for the start of an interchange overhaul to speed commutes on Virginia Route 7.
The Virginia Department of Transportation closed Battlefield Parkway at Va. Route 7/East Market Street on Sunday evening for a 10-month project to replace the traffic beacon there with an overpass carrying the parkway over Route 7.
And it’s lights out, just like that! The traffic signal at Route 7 at Battlefield Pkwy is now dark! pic.twitter.com/ZzJJSoOXkt
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) July 27, 2020
With the removal of the traffic light at Battlefield Parkway, a signal at nearby Cardinal Park Drive remains as the sole point where drivers may need to stop, during the almost 9-mile stretch to Countryside Boulevard in Sterling.
In the past three years, traffic lights have been removed at Ashburn Village Boulevard, Belmont Ridge Road, and Lexington Drive, in an effort to improve commutes for the more than 100,000 daily vehicle trips on Route 7 in and out of Leesburg.
According to VDOT, Battlefield Parkway between Russell Branch Parkway and the Marketplace at Potomac Station shopping center entrance will be closed for approximately 10 months.
The light at Cardinal Park Drive will also be removed as part of the $77 million project, which is being built with federal, state, town, Loudoun County and Northern Virginia Transportation Authority funding.
The project will aim to make travel through the interchange easier for more commuters by:
- Adding auxiliary lanes on eastbound Route 7 from the Leesburg Bypass to the new Battlefield Parkway interchange, and from the Battlefield Parkway interchange to River Creek Parkway.
- Constructing a shared-use path along northbound Battlefield Parkway and a sidewalk along southbound Battlefield Parkway.
- Adding a second left turn lane from southbound Battlefield Parkway to Fort Evans Road, and a second left turn lane from northbound River Creek Parkway to Fort Evans Road. The turn lanes opened to traffic in July 2020.
The project is expected to be completed by Fall 2021.
Watch VDOT’s video explaining detours and planned improvements for the interchange:
