WASHINGTON — A major road construction project is getting underway on U.S. Route 1 near Fort Belvoir.
The work on Richmond Highway between Telegraph Road (Route 611) and Mount Vernon Highway (Route 235) will occur in phases beginning near the middle of the 3.68 mile stretch. It will take about two years to complete.
“That’ll definitely have an impact on me,” says Dave Moser. He lives on the Fort Belvoir base and says traffic already is a hassle. Moser works for the army and could be transferred in a few years. So he’ll likely endure all the pain with none of the projected gains. “Probably about the time I’m leaving would be the earliest they’d get it done,” says Moser.
The project’s north edge is about nine miles south of the capital beltway 495 in Alexandria and adjacent to another construction project that already has proven a headache to some area business.
The Jeff Todd Way – Mulligan Road connector will link Telegraph road with U.S. Route 1 north of the Fort Belvoir base. It’s expected to open within two months or so and promises to relieve some of the delays expected on U.S. 1 because of the Fort Belvoir related construction.
“When I first started working here it was too busy,” says clerk Daniel Mulu at the Woodlawn Exxon Gas station located at the intersection of Mount Vernon Highway, Jeff Todd Way and U.S. Route 1. Since the construction started on the connector road Mulu says he spends most of his time at work watching movies and listening to the radio.
Also near that intersection “I’m losing a lot of business,” says Woodlawn Auto Center Owner Chris Lambrou. “I’m behind $60,000 in six months,” says Lambrou.
Construction along the Fort Belvoir corridor on Richmond Highway is expected to http://rte1ftbelvoir.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Rt-1-Pardon-Our-Dust- PowerPoint.pdf take place only on weekends, overnights and mid-days.
Some of the promised upgrades:
- Widen U.S. Route 1 from four to six through lanes
- Establish turn lanes at key intersections and connecting roadways
- Create bike lanes, sidewalks and a multi-use trail
- Improve portions of Telegraph Road
- Replace numbers of bridges
Twenty years of planning for all this has included project partners Fairfax County, Fort Belvoir, Virginia’s Department of Transportation, Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division.
“Two years from now, yeah it’ll be a benefit. I’ll feel better seeing more lanes” says Pam Neal who commutes between the city of Alexandria and Fort Belvoir. But mulling over how long she thinks construction might add to her commute she adds, “these two years are going to be hard.”
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