Work to widen Route 610 is actually ahead of June 2009 planned finish

June 2, 2008 12:15 am

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Dear Kelly: Please explain what the problem is with finishing the State Route 610 improvements in Garrisonville. It seems the work zones have been there forever and nothing has changed except to make the road and lanes even more dangerous. What are the ultimate goals of the project?

--W.L. Homes, Fauquier, Stafford, Spotsylvania

The Virginia Department of Transportation is widening Route 610 to six lanes, three lanes in each direction, from Staffordborough Boulevard to Onville Road.

A concrete median will separate eastbound and westbound traffic, and a new signal will be added at Dunn Drive. (That's the Chick-fil-A turn, for people who drive past the landmark.)

A stronger road surface will withstand the average of 65,000 cars and trucks that travel Route 610 every day. To put that in perspective, an average of 72,000 cars a day travel Interstate 95 southbound through Stafford.

George Romack, VDOT's Fredericksburg District construction engineer, responded to your question.

"The Route 610 (Garrisonville Road) improvement project has a June 2009 finish date in the contract. We are pleased to report that the project is ahead of schedule, and could be completed by this summer," Romack wrote in an e-mail.

"The contractor has spent a great deal of time on this project working on the numerous underground utilities needing relocation, drainage structure modifications, and traffic signal installations. Much of this work has been outside the mainline on the shoulders and side streets.

"The majority of the work for constructing the new lanes has been limited to nighttime operations to minimize impact to the traveling public. Similarly, the old lanes are being repaired at night in preparation for the final riding surface to be applied over the entire roadway portion of the project. We anticipate this final paving to begin in the next few weeks. All of our projects have a goal to provide a safe, quality facility for the roadway users."

Dear Kelly: Has VDOT changed the timing of the stoplights on Route 610? For the past two weeks, the afternoon rush traffic on Garrisonville Road has been awful! Trying to get off southbound I-95 onto westbound 610 or Salisbury Drive has been next to impossible. Cars traveling westbound on 610 from U.S. 1 "block the box," so sometimes you have to sit through three or four light cycles just to get onto 610 or Salisbury. In addition, this backup seems to be encouraging people to try to cut through Greensprings Drive to make a right on Mine Road and then a left on 610. This extra volume of traffic blocks the Mine Road/Greensprings Drive box, and prevents people from traveling down Mine Road toward Hampton Oaks and Austin Ridge. I realize that westbound 610 is under construction, but it has been for a while and traffic has been really bad for only a couple of weeks. Is there any way that we can find out if VDOT has changed the timing of the lights, or if they can do anything to relieve some of the congestion?

--Tiffany Lamkin, Stafford

The widening of Route 610 (described in the previous answer) is the likely reason behind any signal changes, said VDOT spokeswoman Tina Bundy. When the widening project is finished, VDOT will be able to synchronize the timing on signals up and down Route 610. Until then, VDOT signal engineers will visit this intersection to see if immediate changes can be made to prevent the "box" blocking and overflow traffic to Greensprings Drive, Bundy said.

Kelly Hannon is The Free Lance-Star's transportation reporter. If you have questions, send them to Getting There, c/o The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or fill out the Getting There form on fredericksburg.com.