William C. Flook, The Examiner
2008-04-14 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

The addition of high-occupancy toll lanes on the Capital Beltway will bring with it the replacement of dozens of deteriorating overpasses, bridges and ramps, much of it for the first time since the Beltway’s opening four decades ago, officials say.

The structures are showing chronic wear-and-tear problems and in some cases don’t meet modern height standards, leading to scrapes and collision damage when taller trucks pass underneath, said Nick Nicholson, who oversees the coordination of the region’s major road projects for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Crews were recently called out to patch up the damage to an exterior beam when a vehicle failed to clear the intersection of the Beltway and Route 50, he said.

Under the HOT lanes project, which will add two new toll lanes on each direction of the highway for 14 miles between Springfield and north of the Dulles Toll Road, these structures will see the first replacement since the Beltway’s creation in the early 1960s.

“These bridges are 40-plus years old, and normally in our industry bridges are designed to be constructed 50 years,” Nicholson said. “Rather than having to put those maintenance dollars on trying to extend an asset that is at the end of its service life, you have a new structure that is basically-maintenance free.”

The replacement is of particular importance in a time when the state’s road maintenance deficit is ballooning, with no clear means to pay for it.

The HOT lanes project will bring 59 new structures with the replacement of four bridges, 19 overpasses and four ramps, and the addition of 17 completely new overpasses and 15 new ramps, said VDOT spokesman Steve Titunik.

Outside the lanes themselves, the new infrastructure will cost $250 million, a figure that also includes new sound walls.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $1.7 billion, a price that will be borne partly by contractors Fluor Daniels and Transurban USA and partly by the commonwealth. Construction is expected to begin this summer and span the next five years.

Local officials have long worried that the HOT lanes, coupled with a bevy of other large scale improvements throughout Northern Virginia, will worsen an already intolerable traffic problem during their construction.

“Yes, there is additional capacity [with HOT lanes], something that we’ve been planning for and something that’s needed,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Linda Smyth, who represents the Providence District. “I don’t know how painful it’s going to be in the process.”

wflook@dcexaminer.com