Virtual Meetings Planned Next Week to Discuss Proposed Express Lane Extension

With a public hearing next month, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is hosting a pair of meetings to discuss a plan to extend the I-495 Express Lanes.

The change would extend the existing express lanes from the interchange of I-495 and the Dulles Toll Road up to the American Legion Bridge, already a notorious regional bottleneck for traffic.

The express lanes have tolls that range from 20 cents per mile to $1.25 per mile during rush hour with no official cap. Cars with three or more people do not have to pay the toll.

The goal of the project is to add capacity to the roads and reduce congestion on the Virginia side of the bridge, as well as reducing cut-through traffic

VDOT is hosting meetings from 7-9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, and on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Each meeting is designed as a Q&A with staff following a presentation about the upcoming plans.

The meetings precede a presentation of findings from the environmental assessment and preliminary design plans in a virtual public hearing on Monday, Oct. 5 from 7-9:30 p.m. and an in-person (by appointment) hearing at the McLean Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 4-8 p.m.