WASHINGTON — New pavement markings have been added at six entry points to the 495 Express Lanes in Virginia in an attempt to make it easier for drivers to choose the proper lane, whether entering the E-ZPass-only Express Lanes or staying on the regular Capital Beltway travel lanes.
The purple-painted markings of the E-ZPass logo are 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall, and seven of them have been laid down at the six entry points.
“Additional enhancements like this further serve to clarify the rules of the road and where you get on and where you get off,” says Mike McGurk, spokesman for Transurban, operators of the 495 Express Lanes.
The new markings have been added to entry points at the following locations:
- Gallows Road
- Jones Branch Drive
- Braddock Road
- Westpark Drive
- Leesburg Pike/Route 7
- Lee Highway/Route 29.
Last month, 72-year-old Mary Jane Treacy, of South Carolina, was killed when a car crashed into the rear of her minivan after she braked when entering the 495 Express Lanes in Springfield.
McGurk says no new markings have been added in Springfield.
“That area near the Springfield interchange actually had extensive enhancements added to it soon after the project opened including pavement markings, additional channelizing devices, larger channelizing devices,” McGurk says.
McGurk says Transurban will continue to monitor the area of the fatal crash and the entire corridor to see whether more enhancements are needed.
Beyond the 495 Express Lanes, Express Lanes are under construction on I-95 that will extend E-ZPass-only HOT Lanes from Tysons Corner 40 miles south to Stafford. The 95 Express Lanes are expected to open next year.
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