Ballards Mill Road closes Sept. 22 for bridge work

Beginning Sept. 22, the Virginia Department of Transportation will close Route 671 – Ballards Mill Road – in Albemarle County for two weeks for a bridge project.

From Sept. 22 to Oct. 3, a VDOT bridge crew will work on the Wards Creek bridge, located approximately one half-mile south of Route 609 (Wesley Chapel Road) in Free Union. The current steel-beam, timber-deck bridge is posted with a 15-ton weight limit. In its place VDOT will install a concrete bridge that is three feet wider and can carry all legal loads.

Route 671 will be closed to all traffic while the bridge is replaced. A detour will be in place to direct motorists from Route 671 to Route 609 to Route 665 (Millington Road) and back to Route 671.

According to a 2009 traffic count, 80 vehicles use Route 671 daily.

For more information about Virginia’s bridges and VDOT’s bridge inspection program, including current conditions of the state’s bridges, FAQs and video of a bridge inspection, visit VDOT’s website,http://www.virginiadot.org/info/Bridge.asp.