Multiple lane closures set to begin on I-95

Drivers on Interstate 95 will face detours tonight and Wednesday as several construction projects are under way.

Beginning at 9:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow, crews with the Virginia Department of Transportation will close the exit ramp from the outer loop of the Capital Beltway to I-395 north, at Springfield, as steel beams for a new bridge are hoisted in place.

The work is part of the effort to add High Occupancy Toll lanes on the Beltway, from Springfield to Dulles Toll Road.

A detour will be in place where drivers can follow signs directing motorists from the Beltway onto I-95 south to exit 166A. After they get off at that exit, drivers will then be directed back onto I-95 north where they can continue on to I-395, according to VDOT.

Further south on I-95, VDOT on Wednesday night will close two lanes on the southbound side of the highway, three miles south of Fairfax County Parkway, so crews can hang steel beams for the addition of a new lane over the Pohick Creek.

That work is part of a project to widen I-95 to four lanes in both directions, from the Occoquan River to Newington. 

One right lane will close at 9:30 p.m., followed by another at 10:30 p.m. Both lanes will stay closed until 5 a.m. Thursday, stated a VDOT press release.

The High Occupancy Vehicle lanes will remain open later Wednesday night, until 1:30 a.m. Thursday, so southbound traffic can get around the closures. The lanes will then be reversed to the northbound direction, for morning commuters, stated VDOT.

The I-95 new northbound lane should be opened by the end of the year. The entire project should be completed, at an estimated cost of $123 million, in 2011.

The $1.4 billion Capital Beltway HOT lanes project is scheduled to be completed in 2013.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.