Lane closures begin Wednesday on Route 33 in Harrisonburg as part a project replacing the two bridges over Interstate 81 at Exit 247 and two railroad bridges west of the interchange.
Left- or right-lane closures will be in place on East Market Street as needed on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for eastbound and westbound traffic between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Linda Lane/Burgess Road.
The East Market Street lane closures are scheduled through Tuesday, Nov. 22. They are needed for shoulder widening and utility work. Motorists on Reservoir Street and Country Club Road in Harrisonburg could see increases in traffic volume due to these lane closures.
A work-zone speed limit of 25 miles an hour went into effect today (Monday, November 7) and will remain in place for the duration of the project, which is expected to last into 2026.
The work zone is closed to pedestrian traffic. All work is weather permitting.
The four bridges were built in 1960 and have reached the end of their service life. A single new bridge will replace the Route 33 eastbound and westbound bridges over I-81. A single new bridge will replace the Route 33 eastbound and westbound bridges over Norfolk Southern Railroad and Blacks Run. Reconstruction of Route 33 will be done at the new bridges’ approaches. All the new bridges will have two lanes in each direction with reconstructed approaches.
The project includes a new shared use path in the median of Route 33 beginning at the Burgess Road and Linda Lane intersection, extending across the new bridges to Martin Luther King Way.
The northbound side of the interchange will receive improvements in both the southeastern and northeastern quadrants, which will eliminate the weave movements occurring on I-81 at the deceleration and acceleration ramps.
The project will remove the southeastern quadrant loop ramp, which currently serves traffic from Route 33 eastbound to northbound I-81. In the area of the removed ramp, the northbound I-81 deceleration lane to the westbound Route 33 ramp will be extended.
In the northeast quadrant Route 33 eastbound traffic will enter northbound I-81 from a new ramp constructed to connect with the existing northbound I-81 acceleration ramp. A new left-turn lane with a new traffic signal will be built for eastbound Route 33 traffic to enter the northbound acceleration ramp.
Additional construction on the southeast quadrant includes a spur ramp from the northbound I-81 deceleration ramp to eastbound Route 33. This spur ramp will serve traffic making the left turn onto Linda Lane. The dual left-turn lanes along eastbound Route 33 at Linda Lane will be extended to accommodate the new spur ramp. A narrow raised median between the left-turn lane and westbound Route 33 will be constructed.
The southbound side of the interchange will receive improvements in both the southwestern and northwestern quadrants, which will provide additional space.
In the southwest quadrant, the westbound Route 33 left-turn lane onto the southbound I-81 acceleration ramp will be reconstructed and extended. In the northwest quadrant, the southbound I-81 deceleration ramp onto westbound Route 33 will be realigned in order to provide a longer merge area onto Route 33.
In all four quadrants, as needed, there will be reconstruction of merge lanes and tie-ins from acceleration and deceleration ramps around the bridges.
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Chris Graham
