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Public meeting to discuss Millwood Pike-Interstate 81 bridge project

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interstate 81VDOT and the Commonwealth Transportation Board will hold a public hearing concerning adding a line item in the 2019-2024 Six Year Improvement Plan for proposed replacement of the Route 17/50/522 (Millwood Pike) bridge over Interstate 81 in Frederick County.

The meeting will take place from 4 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at Strasburg High School, 250 Ram Drive, Strasburg.

This meeting is being held on the same date and in the same location as the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Plan study meeting, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and focuses on the entire I-81 corridor. Separate displays and information will be available for each meeting.

The bridge on Route 17/50/522 (Millwood Pike) Bridge over Interstate 81 at exit 313, built in 1964, is reaching the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.

This public hearing for the Route 17/50/522 (Millwood Pike) bridge is to add this project as a line item in the 2019-2024 Six Year Improvement Plan and begin receiving State of Good Repair (SGR) funding. If funding for this bridge project is allocated additional public meetings including a public hearing concerning design elements will be held in the future.

State of Good Repair funds address infrastructure maintenance needs. Most SGR projects replace pavement and bridges; SGR funded projects cannot increase capacity, such as adding additional lanes.

Once in the SYP, the Win-Fred MPO may apply for Smart Scale funding for capacity improvements to enhance the value of the project and provide a longer-range solution to congestion problems in the corridor.

Smart Scale applications are submitted biennially; applications for FY20 are due by August 1, 2018. Smart Scale applications are scored on factors including economic development, accessibility, safety, environmental quality, and in urban areas land use. The viability of a Smart Scale application increases significantly if other resources, such as SGR funding, exists on a project in the six year improvement program.

Citizens can come in during the meeting hours and discuss the project on a one-on-one basis with VDOT officials. Written comments can be submitted at the meeting or within 10 days after the meeting date to Mr. Scott Alexander, P.E., Project Manager. Virginia Department of Transportation, 811 Commerce RoadStauntonVA  24401-9029. Oral comments can be recorded at the meeting with the assistance of a court reporter

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.

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