WASHINGTON – Jimmy Buffett is causing some changes to roadwork in Northern Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Transportation announced a sold-out Aug. 17 Jimmy Buffett concert at Jiffy Lube Live is the reason officials are delaying the opening of a new U.S. 29 bridge over the railroad crossing in Gainesville, Va.
“With 25,000 concert-goers coming to Gainesville Aug. 17, that weekend clearly was not the best one for us to take away a lane on Route 29,” Bill Cuttler, VDOT’s district construction engineer in northern Virginia, said in a news release.
Jiffy Lube Live is located about a mile from the construction zone. The traffic shift was moved to the weekend of Aug. 24, VDOT officials say.
From 9 p.m. Aug. 23 until noon Aug. 25, only one lane in each direction will be open on U.S. 29 and Linton Hall Road. Some turning movements will be restricted, VDOT said.
“The weekend of Aug. 24-25 will be a major inconvenience for Gainesville-area motorists but by Sunday afternoon the hazardous at-grade railroad crossing will be no more,” Cuttler said in the release. “Getting traffic off Route 29 and onto the new bridge is a safety improvement that cannot happen soon enough.”
The new bridge will eventually carry Linton Hall Road over U.S. 29, eliminating the dangerous rail crossing.
Jimmy Buffett is set to perform for his legion of Parrothead followers Saturday, Aug. 17 at 8 p.m.
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