Commuter Safety Is Goal of 95 Express Lanes Extension: VDOT

STAFFORD, VA -- An extension in the works for the 95 Express Lanes in Stafford County will reduce delays and make the rush-hour toll road safer for motorists, say state officials.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer on a 2.5-mile southward extension of the limited-access lanes down the middle of Interstate 95, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Earlier this week, the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which oversees VDOT, awarded a $31 million contract for the project to a Roanoke construction company, Branch Highways Inc.

The 95 Express Lanes currently run from Garrisonville Road (Route 610) up through Prince William and Fairfax counties to Springfield and the Beltway (I-495). VDOT also plans to extend the express lanes north of the Beltway, along I-395 to Washington, D.C.

Commuters must pay a toll to drive in the 95 Express Lanes, which have been built inside I-95's regular lanes. The reversible express lanes carry northbound traffic in the morning rush hour and southbound traffic in the evening.

The tolls are collected through a wireless system of transponders; commuters who drive in the 95 Express Lanes must have an electronic device mounted on their windshield to record lane usage. For more information, please click here.

Extending the 95 Express Lanes southward will ease a traffic bottleneck at Garrisonville Road, say state officials.

“The extension will help to reduce traffic delays in the northbound main lanes [of I-95] during the morning peak travel period and southbound Express Lanes traffic in the afternoon peak," VDOT Commissioner Charlie Kilpatrick said in a statement. "The extension will also improve safety by reducing vehicle merging and weaving to enter and exit the [express] lanes.”

The 2.5-mile extension will carry traffic beyond the flyover ramp where the 95 Express Lanes currently end, just north of I-95's Exit 143 at Garrisonville Road. The new southbound ramp is scheduled to open in late 2017 to early 2018, VDOT said, and the new northbound ramp will open in the summer of 2018.

VDOT says that when the project is complete:

• Northbound traffic in the main lanes of I-95 will be able to enter the 95 Express Lanes earlier at a new left entrance south of the Garrisonville Road overpass. The existing left entrance north of Garrisonville Road will remain.
• Southbound 95 Express Lanes traffic heading to the Fredericksburg area will be able to continue past Garrisonville and merge onto I-95 about one mile south of Garrisonville Road.

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