VDOT News - Culpeper

CULPEPER — Traffic on U.S. 250 (Richmond Road) will be detoured onto Interstate 64 overnight Wednesday and Thursday, and again Sunday and Monday, while final paving work is completed on U.S. 250 at the diverging diamond interchange project. During the paving operations, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., only emergency vehicles will be allowed to travel through the work area.

Paving on two I-64 exit ramps will also be done this week. From 9 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m. Tuesday, the eastbound exit ramp from I-64 will be closed for paving. From 9 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday, the westbound exit ramp from I-64 will be closed. During those closures traffic should detour to the next exit and return to U.S. 250, which will remain open through the construction project.

During the closure of U.S. 250 during mainline paving operations traffic will detour as follows:

• S. 250 westbound through traffic will use I-64 east to exit 129 (Route 616 Keswick/Boyd Tavern) then back to U.S. 250. 
• S. 250 eastbound through traffic will use I-64 west to exit 121 (Route 20 Charlottesville/Scottsville) then back to U.S. 250.
• I-64 eastbound to U.S. 250 westbound traffic will use I-64 east to exit 129 (Route 616 Keswick/Boyd Tavern) then back to U.S. 250.
• I-64 westbound to U.S. 250 eastbound traffic will use I-64 west to exit 121 (Route 20 Charlottesville/Scottsville) then back to U.S. 250.

This surface paving is the last major work remaining on the project. Once that is finished the project will be substantially complete. Some minor finishing activities and cleanup will remain, but all lanes will be open to traffic through the project.

The diverging diamond interchange briefly shifts vehicles to the opposite side of the road, eliminating traditional left turns that must cross over oncoming traffic. The new interchange will improve safety by reducing the number of spots where vehicles could collide and can handle more than 600 left-turn movements per hour, twice the capacity of a conventional interchange.

When driving through the diverging diamond configuration, motorists will proceed through a traffic signal at one end of the interchange and follow their lane to the opposite side of the roadway. Motorists who wish to access I-64 will merge left onto the interstate using an on-ramp without having to stop or wait for oncoming traffic to pass. Through traffic on U.S. 250 proceeds to a second traffic signal at the opposite side of the interchange and follows their lane back to the right side of the road.

The $14.3 million project dramatically reduced the cost to improve safety and efficient traffic movement through the interchange compared with reconstructing it as a traditional cloverleaf interchange. No additional right of way was needed and the existing bridges have been used for the new interchange. 

The diverging diamond interchange is one of six projects in a package of improvements to Albemarle County roads in a $28.5 million design-build contract awarded to Curtis Contracting Inc. of West Point, Va. Wallace Montgomery of Vienna, Va. is providing design services for the projects.

Four projects, the reconfiguration of the I-64 Exit 118 interchange at U.S. 29, an additional lane from I-64 to the Fontaine Avenue exit from U.S. 29 north, the Rio Mills connector road between Rio Mills Road and Berkmar Drive and a roundabout at Route 20 (Stony Point Road) and Route 649 (Proffit Road) are substantially complete. A second roundabout at U.S. 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike) and Route 151 (Critzer Shop Road) at Afton is also nearly complete.

Current traffic conditions, VDOT’s statewide network of traffic cameras and other real-time travel information is on the 511Virginia website. That information is also available on the free VDOT 511 mobile app or by calling 511 from any phone in Virginia. VDOT updates are also on the Culpeper District Facebook page and the district’s Twitter account, @VaDOTCulp.

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