Berkmar Drive – Route 29/250 interchange improvements, Berkmar Drive extension(Photo by Trevor Wrayton, Virginia DOT)
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has opened the last two of the Route 29 Solutions design-build projects. The projects were designed to address safety issues and congestion along Route 20 in Charlottesville.
The projects add lanes on Route 29 and a local road parallel to the roadway to provide an alternate for motorists traveling north of Charlottesville. VDOT says the projects add capacity on Route 29 north of the South Fork Rivanna River and improve safety on a section that is has one of the highest crash rates on the corridor.
“The Route 29 Solutions program is an outstanding example of how the state can partner with local governments and their communities to develop and deliver improvements that address transportation issues and reflect the preferences of the community,” says Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne. “VDOT is using the processes developed and executed so successfully here to improve the delivery of large projects across Virginia.”
Layne, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, state and local officials, and project staff held a ceremony marking the delivery of the Route 29 Widening and Berkmar Drive Extensions projects. The projects were part of a $116.7 million design-build contract with Lane-Corman Joint Venture. Construction began in the summer of 2015. VDOT says the third project, the Rio Road grade-separated intersection, was finished in December of last year and the Berkmar and Route 29 widening projects are set to be complete by Oct. 30 this year.
“The Route 29 Solutions program was among the first initiatives put in motion by my administration,” McAuliffe says. “We promised that these projects would address the long-standing safety issues and congestion along Route 29 in the Charlottesville region, and it’s a pleasure to celebrate the successful completion of the three most challenging projects in that package of transportation improvements with the Charlottesville community.”
More details on the projects are available at route29solutions.org.
