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Falmouth flyover plan prepares for takeoff Date published: 9/10/2008
BY HUGH MUIR
If all goes according to schedule, the long-awaited Falmouth overpass that will end decades of congestion at the intersection of U.S. 1, U.S. 17 and Butler Road will open in 2017. Virginia Department of Transportation officials have drawn up a basic design and timetable for the four-lane elevated span, which will have side lanes providing access to and from U.S. 1 below. Late next spring, VDOT plans to hold a public information meeting to seek community input on the final design of the span and its impact on historic Falmouth. VDOT will seek final state and federal approval of the project at a public hearing late next year. "We want to minimize the intrusion of this bridge on the community," said Harry Lee, VDOT engineering manager. "With context-sensitive design, we want to make it blend in with the community. We want it virtually to disappear." A half dozen public meetings have been held on the project. The diamond interchange design now the focus of VDOT's planning is one of three or four alternatives that have cropped up over the years. Cost and engineering challenges winnowed the candidates to the present one. Under the proposed design, the bridge over U.S. 1 would carry four lanes and span approximately 120 feet. The rebuilt 500-foot approach lanes on U.S. 17 and Butler Road would divide traffic going nonstop over the bridge from that descending to U.S. 1. At that level, left and right turns to and from U.S. 1 would be controlled by traffic signals. Over the decades, inflation has increased the cost of the project from $2 million to $20 million. The construction price index went up 18 percent last year alone. VDOT has to have at least 80 percent of the $20 million cost in hand before the first shovel goes into the ground. "And we have to pay for it completely the year we finish it," Lee said. The money now appears to be lined up. So far, state and federal agencies have given or promised $2.8 million by fiscal 2011. That should cover the engineering, ground studies and other planning before construction. Then major funding should start to appear. State and federal allocations jump to $1.3 million in 2012, to $7.9 million in 2013 and, finally, to $9.1 million in 2014. "That's when we can start spending serious amounts of money," Lee said, for example buying rights of way and relocating utilities. In August 2014, VDOT hopes to advertise for construction bids. Actual construction could begin when the winter ice goes out in 2015. Hugh Muir: 540/735-1975
Date published: 9/10/2008
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