People coming back to Albemarle County for the holidays who haven’t been here for a while need to be aware of new traffic patterns at construction projects ongoing at two high-volume intersections.
The diamond interchange project at U.S. 250-Interstate 64 east of Charlottesville at the 121 exit is the first. 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, but it can take some getting used to.
On the other side of the county, over toward Afton Mountain, the U.S. 250-Route 151 intersection that can either take you up the mountain or left toward Nelson County is now a roundabout.
Drivers should remember that vehicles approaching the roundabout must yield to vehicles already in the roundabout. Follow the pavement markings and signs to navigate the roundabout, and if you miss your exit, simply drive around again until you reach the appropriate exit road.
Construction work on both projects, and on VDOT projects across Virginia, will be suspended between noon Friday, Dec. 23 and noon Tuesday, Dec, 27, and again from noon Friday, Dec. 30 until noon Tuesday, Jan. 3, to ease the trek for holiday travelers.
The speed limit through both projects is 25 miles per hour. Drivers may also notice a rough ride through the projects since neither project has the final “travel” surface of asphalt.
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 Facebook and the district’s Twitter account, @VaDOTCulp.
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Chris Graham
