Video: Virginia Department of Transportation
The Interstate 64 widening project is facing a major deadline, and the Virginia Department of Transportation has said it is on track to meet it.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has said contracting crews will meet the Dec. 1 deadline for the first segment of the project after more than two years of road work.
The first segment of the project includes widening 5.6 miles of I-64 from Jefferson Avenue (exit 255) in Newport News to Lee Hall (exit 247).
There are three segments to the project. Each segment is run separately as “operationally-independent construction projects,” according to VDOT spokeswoman Brittany McBride. That means each segment has its own budget, deadline, and contract.
What’s left to do?
VDOT is hoping to open the new interstate lanes in the first segment by the end of 2017.
However, work remains to be done on some parts of the project.
Crews are finishing up the ramp extensions and bridge repairs at the Fort Eustis Boulevard interchange, the Industrial Park Drive bridges, and the Lee Hall Reservoir bridge. Crews are also finishing putting down surface asphalt on parts of the segment.
Noise and barrier walls will soon be going up, leaving just landscaping inside the median to be finished.
Segment two began in October 2016 and is expected to be completed by May 2019.
The segment two project includes widening of about seven miles of the interstate near the Rt. 199 interchange (exit 242) to Lee Hall (exit 247).
Work on the nine bridges on the project has already commenced, while other VDOT crews clear-cut trees and fill in the median strip to prepare for the construction portion of the project.
Segment three is scheduled to go before the Commonwealth Transportation Board for approval of the project award by December, according to McBride.
The segment three project is scheduled to start January 2018 and wrap up by the fall of 2021.
Find more information on segment one and two of the I-64 widening project on the VDOT website.
Correction 11/13/2017: Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Brittany McBride clarified dates for the initial construction of segment two, and provided more information on the contracts for each segment.
