Issue 12 | March 29, 2023

• Noise Wall Removal and Continued Tree Clearing
• Pile Driving for New Bridges this Spring
• Upcoming Temporary Road Shift on Live Oak Drive
• Lewinsville Road Bridge Improvements Underway

This spring, crews will continue clearing trees and removing more than four miles of old noise walls along the 495 NEXT project corridor. 

After removing noise walls and clearing trees, crews will shift to preparing the opened areas for construction of new lanes. Where necessary, drainage will be installed, grading will be performed and retaining walls will be built.

The new outside lanes will be constructed, and new and replacement noise walls will be installed as soon as the necessary construction is in place. Traffic will then be shifted onto the new outside lanes, creating space to build the new inside lanes. 

In February 2023, the center pier of the replacement Live Oak Drive Bridge was completed. Workers are now building the bridge abutments on both sides of the Beltway. 

The 495 NEXT project team will make every effort to complete the pile driving as efficiently as possible. All construction work is dependent on weather conditions and other scheduling factors.

Following pile driving, work crews will complete the bridge abutments. Next, steel beams will be lifted into place, an activity that must be performed during nighttime hours, as the lanes underneath must be closed to traffic for safety reasons. Lastly, the decks and remaining elements of the bridges will be constructed.

Elements of a bridge structure

1. Construct temporary drainage facilities.
2. Place temporary pavement.
3. Shift traffic onto new alignment.
4. Clear a limited number of additional trees in existing VDOT right-of-way and acquired easements.
5. Relocate utility lines next to the Langley Swim and Tennis Club and adjacent homes.
6. Construct new, permanent alignment of Live Oak Drive.
7. Install new and upgraded noise walls.

In early March, 495 NEXT crews began work on the Lewinsville Road Bridge over the Beltway. Unlike other cross-street bridges along the project corridor, this existing bridge crossing is long enough to span the future express lanes and is not being replaced.

The previous five-foot-wide sidewalks on the Lewinsville Road Bridge are being replaced with 10-foot-wide sidewalks that will connect with the project’s bicycle and pedestrian trail, which will run north along the entire length of the project. 

In progress sidewalk demolition. Five-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides are being replaced with 10-foot-wide sidewalks.

The sequence of construction is as follows:

1. Restripe the roadway and shift traffic slightly north.
2. Add a new crosswalk for pedestrian access to the northern sidewalk.
3. Close the southern sidewalk and demolish it.
4. Construct a new 10-foot-wide southern sidewalk.
5. Repeat the sequence for the new northern sidewalk.

Both new sidewalks will be completed later in 2023. The new bicycle and pedestrian trail is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2026.

Questions?

Email: 495NorthernExtension@vdot.virginia.gov

Call: Construction Inquiry Line, 703-592-6430

Virginia Department of Transportation, Michelle Holland, 703-586-0487

Transurban, Brent McKenzie, 571-326-5609

Lane Construction, John Undeland, 703-785-3461