Part Of I-66 Express Lanes Opening Toll-Free, Lane Closures Planned

VIRGINIA — The first section of the new I-66 Express Lanes outside the Beltway will open toll-free this weekend, while overnight lane closures and a weekend ramp closure are planned on other sections.

Virginia Department of Transportation and private toll operator I-66 Express Mobility Partners will open the western segment of the I-66 Express Lanes the weekend of Sept. 10 and 11. The nine-mile segment between Route 29 in Gainesville and Route 28 in Centreville will open as soon as Saturday, Sept. 10. The opening date for the remaining segment of Express Lanes between the Capital Beltway and University Boulevard in Gainesville will be in December 2022.

According to VDOT, the Express Lanes will initially open toll-free so drivers can become familiar and have additional capacity. Tolling and HOV rules are expected to begin by the end of September and will be displayed on roadway signs.

Once tolling begins, drivers can pay the toll with an E-ZPass or online at Ride66Express.com. Tolling will be dynamically priced based on traffic volumes and speed with prices displayed on overhead signs. Vehicles with two people can ravel the lanes for free with an E-ZPass Flex set to "carpool mode." The HOV-2 designation will change to HOV-3 once all 22.5 miles of Express Lanes are open.

Drivers can access the I-66 Express Lanes through various entrances. On eastbound I-66, drivers can enter from general lanes before Route 29 in Gainesville and a slip ramp before Route 234 Business. Drivers on westbound I-66 can enter from general lanes before Route 28. There will also be access from new ramps at Route 234/Sudley Road, Route 28, Braddock and Walney Roads, and two new commuter parking lots at University Boulevard in Gainesville and Century Park Drive in Manassas.

Construction activities will continue through the entire project corridor after the western segment opens. According to VDOT, continuing construction includes major paving, shifting lanes into final alignments, and work on interchanges, bridges and ramps. Final construction will continue through mid-2023 after the remaining I-66 Express Lanes open in December.

Road Work Continues

Road work continues on other segments of the I-66 Express Lanes project this weekend. Overnight lane closures are planned on westbound I-66 near Gallows Road Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night. According to VDOT, crew will install bridge beams for the new southbound Gallows Road bridge over I-66.

On Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., two lanes of westbound I-66 will be closed. On Sunday night, two lanes will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Gallows Road over I-66 will be reduced to a single lane in each direction Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and Sunday night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The southbound side of Gallows Road will be closed with both directions of traffic running in the northbound lanes.

Ramp closures from I-495 and I-495 Express Lanes to westbound I-66 are also planned. The ramp from southbound I-495 to westbound I-66 will be closed Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and Sunday night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The ramp from the southbound I-495 Express Lanes will also be closed Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and Sunday night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The Gallows Road bridge over I-66 is being reconstructed to make room for the I-66 Express Lanes and future improvements on Gallows Road. VDOT says more multiple-night lane closures and traffic stoppages will be planned in the coming weeks on westbound I-66 and Gallows Road.

Another weekend impact will be the closure of the ramp from eastbound Route 50 to westbound I-66 from 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9 to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 12. The closure is due to a traffic shift and permanent ramp opening. The I-66 and Route 50 interchange is being rebuilt to add connections to the new Express Lanes and construct a shared-use path.

During the ramp closure, traffic will be detoured farther east, stay left, use the left-most left turn lane to make a U-turn at the traffic signal at Waples Mill Road onto westbound Route 50, stay to the right, and follow signs to westbound I-66.

For more updates on the Express Lanes project, visit outside.transform66.org.