The graphic below show VDOT’s partner design for the new flyovers and ramps over the Dunn Loring area. Note that his design has NOT yet been approved and the designs are preliminary in nature. However it shows that a lot of engineering has already been done to design a system of elevated bridges and high flyovers.
The purple lanes extending from the south side of I-66 would be new flyovers. One, near Prosperity Avenue, would connect I-66 eastbound traffic to I-66 eastbound Express Lanes. VDOT had orginally said that this was necessary, because it would be “impossible” to build a direct Express Lanes entrance at Nutley Street. Now, even with plans to build a direct Express Lanes entrance at Nutley street, this flyover is still in the works.
The longer purple lane structure extends into the Metro area, and is elevated at the Metro station. The narrow “tree conservation area” behind the Dunn Loring Metro garage will be destroyed, and the bridge will be built through this area. Two lanes of I-66 traffic will be elevated over the entire Dunn Loring Metro station, and continue over Gallows Road. Imagine looking up at Interstate traffic, passing over Gallows Road, in addition to the current traffic passing below Gallows Road. Is this the new Dunn Loring/Merrifield that Fairfax County spent so many years in planning, in conjunction with the new walkable mixed use village constructed at the Dunn Loring Metro station?
Earlier this week VDOT’s Renée Hamilton told the Transportation Planning Board that this flyover design feature “was basically something that we thought was in the best interest of everyone.” Do you think that this is true?
Transform 66 Wisely 
Who trusts VDOT to begin with? That monstrosity they built in Springfield speaks to their engineering prowess. How about the widening of rte. 64 in Hampton Roads they had to rebuild after it was completed? Incompetence at it’s finest. They never mentioned any flyover bridges in their public meetings did they? This project has stunk since the beginning. HOT lanes and privately owned highways primarily by foreign money/governments is not the way to go.
LikeLike
I totally understand the urgent need of VDOT to come up with solution to growing traffic problems near 66 and 495 junction. Public & private partnership is one of the valuable tool, however, private companies can not be allowed to control and charge unreasonable fees to desperately needed customers. The current user fee structure on HOV lanes is a perfect example. VDOT please note – we should not allow privately owned highways primarily by foreign money/governments to control our vital transportation system.
LikeLike
The sooner the ramp at gallows near the Dunn Loring metro station is built the better. It would ease congestion considerably, provide jobs and keep traffic moving instead of sitting there spewing carbon emissions caused by vehicle backups. Better for the environment. Better for local residents and better for the traveling public.
EDITOR’s NOTE: We’re not sure why the commenter believes that the ramp would have eased any congestion, as it would have simply replaced the existing ramp that moves vehicles from I-66 Eastbound to I-495 Southbound. The congestion from the Beltway would still be there, with the same number of lanes for the traffic movement. However, if it were built, this traffic would instead climb about sixty feet, pass OVER the Dunn Loring Metro station, pass OVER Gallows Road, and then quickly descend to meet the southbound Beltway general lanes. There would be no benefit to traffic flow, but there would be irreparable harm to the neighborhood that the climbing then decelerating traffic would pass above.
This comment originated from 216.81.81.82, which is registered to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
LikeLike