The five-year project announced Monday to build four high-occupancy toll lanes on the Capital Beltway will add another heavy dose of construction to a traffic-clogged region where work is about to begin on several high-profile endeavors, state and local officials warned.

Under an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation, private construction companies Fluor and Transurban will start work next year on toll lanes that will run from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road.

Plans also call for additional entrance and exit ramps on the Beltway in Tysons Corner and in Springfield.

The lanes will be built on the outside shoulder areas of the Beltway, creating concerns of a potential nightmare with construction crews blocking already-packed highways.

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“We are concerned that even the smallest problem will create a massive-gridlock condition,” said Falls Church City Councilman David Snyder, who chairs the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.

Officials with VDOT and the construction companies insist the heavy Beltway traffic will be affected as little as possible while the lanes are built.

Construction will be done mostly at night, they said, and most work will not interfere with existing traffic patterns.

“To say there will not be any disruptions over the five years of construction would be a disservice,” said Herb Morgan, a construction expert with the Fluor/Transurban team. “The HOT lanes are being constructed on the outside, so that will allow us to keep the current four lanes open.”

Estimates call for motorists to pay an average of $5 to $6 per trip, but the prices will fluctuate depending on traffic congestion.

Buses and carpools of at least three people will not be charged.

VDOT will pay about $400 million of the project’s pricetag, with Fluor and Transurban covering the rest of the costs. The companies will keep all tolls collected from the lanes for 75 years as part of the deal.

Other large-scale projects in the region that are either under way or scheduled to begin by next year include the second Woodrow Wilson Bridge, a fourth lane on Interstate 95 from Newington to Occoquan and the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com