Bridge maintenance work will soon begin on Interstate 64 at mile marker 119 over Route 781 (Sunset Avenue Extended) in Charlottesville. The bridges in both directions will be patched and receive a latex overlay to extend service life.
This winter, under a $735,727 construction contract, Virginia Department of Transportation contractor Martins Construction Corp. of Falls Church has worked outside the travel lanes to complete as much work as possible but will need lane closures to complete the remaining tasks.
8 p.m. Sunday, March 26 to 6 a.m. Monday, March 27 and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. March 27-31, travelers should expect alternating overnight lane closures while the contractor mills and prepares the bridge deck. Motorists will encounter a bumpy riding surface until crews can complete the latex overlay over the following two weekends.
The contractor will work on the eastbound bridge March 31-April 3 and the westbound bridge April 7-10. The single-lane closures are scheduled from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. To help reduce delays for the 18,000 motorists that travel each direction of I-64 on a typical weekend day, VDOT will implement a zipper merge pattern at the work zone.
Rather than merging at the first “lane closed” sign, drivers should stay in their current travel lane up to the merge point and take turns merging — similar to a zipper — into the open lane. When traffic is heavy, this merge method has been shown to reduce backups and keeps traffic flowing through the work zone.
Depending on direction of travel, motorists attending special events in Charlottesville during these weekend closures should plan for extra travel time.
Additional overnight single-lane closures should be expected through mid-April for pavement marking and other finishing work.
For more information, visit virginiadot.org/projects/culpeper/64bridgemaint.asp.
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Chris Graham
