The partially open Jones Branch Connector will be completely closed this weekend — now the second weekend in a row for the closure — to facilitate some additional bridge work.
According to a press release from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT):
- The southbound 495 express lanes between the Jones Branch Connector off-ramp and the Jones Branch Connector on-ramp
- The eastbound Dulles Toll Road ramp to southbound 495 express lanes
- Eastbound and westbound lanes of the Jones Branch Connector between Jones Branch Drive and the 495 express lanes.
Like last week, VDOT says if the weather cooperates, the closure is scheduled to run from Saturday (March 9) at 5 a.m. to Monday (March 11) at 4 a.m.
The closure is to allow crews to continue working on the bridge deck, and further closures may be on the horizon.
“Following the closures this weekend, a few more weekend closures will be necessary in order to construct the new parts of the bridge,” VDOT staff said in an email. “We will send out traffic alerts for those future weekend closures once those dates are confirmed, before they’re scheduled to occur.”
Image via VDOT
A series of closures are planned on and around the Jones Branch Connector this weekend to facilitate more bridge deck work on the bridge.
According to a press release from the Virginia Department of Transportation, the following streets will be closed:
- The southbound 495 express lanes between the Jones Branch Connector off-ramp and the Jones Branch Connector on-ramp
- The eastbound Dulles Toll Road ramp to southbound 495 express lanes
- Eastbound and westbound lanes of the Jones Branch Connector between Jones Branch Drive and the 495 express lanes.
The closures will run from 5 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) to 4 a.m. on Monday (March 4).
The northbound 495 express lanes ramp will remain an option, but only for drivers turning right towards Route 123 via eastbound Scotts Crossing Drive.
The bridge partially opened in December with final completion planned for fall 2019.
The Hilton Worldwide headquarters in the Park Place II building in Tysons is safe for now, but a developer is looking at demolishing and rebuilding the outdated Park Place I office building next door.
Developer B.F. Saul Co. submitted plans in August to redevelop 7926 Jones Branch Drive, an office building built in the 1970s, into a more modern office building. The proposed development plans show the building’s square footage of office space doubling from 260,000 square feet to 450,000 square feet. The new building is planned to be 18-stories tall.
The case entered the pre-staffing review phase on Dec. 12. Dates for hearings at the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors are still to be determined.
The development is just south of the newly opened Jones Branch Connector and one half-mile from the McLean Metro Station. The application calls the existing building “functionally obsolete.”
The new development plans would rotate the property 90 degrees to face the Beltway and create visual symmetry with Park Place II.
The application plans say new amenities will be added at the ground level, like a small bike park. The park will act as a rest stop for passing cyclists with bicycle tools and parking available.
However, the developer is also requesting an exception for the parking requirement as the new development will exceed current parking limitations at the site. The application says the exception would be temporary pending redevelopment of Park Place II, but the application also says there are no immediate plans for Park Place II’s redevelopment.
Park Place II, which was built in 2008 and contains 311,600 square feet of office space, is currently the Hilton Worldwide headquarters. The application says the current leases for that building limit any redevelopment plans.
Photo via Google Maps
NBC 4 Reports on Jones Branch Connector — “A brand new bridge is about to open above the Beltway in Tysons. But, it symbolizes more than just a bridge — it’s part of a larger plan to ‘knit’ Tysons together. [Twitter]
Final Week for Claude Moore Farm — “Absent a last-minute reprieve — a short extension of the management agreement to permit re-introduction of bills in the new Congress — The Farm will be closed and NPS will allow a reasonable period for the nonprofit to remove all structures and other property from the premises. ” [Connection Newspapers]
Burglary in McLean — “Officers responded for the report of an open door. They found someone broke into the home and ransacked the residence.” [FCPD]
Ribbon Cutting for new Capital One HQ — “Dignitaries, including Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Fairfax County Board Supervisor Sharon Bulova attended a Thursday afternoon ribbon-cutting and ceremony to mark the official grand opening of Capital One Headquarters II, the Washington area’s tallest occupied office building.” [WTOP]
Flickr pool photo by Bigbirdz
The Jones Branch Connector will be partially open, with one lane of traffic in each direction, starting next Sunday (Dec. 15).
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) announced the opening today, a slight delay from the earlier opening planned for Dec. 12.
The Jones Branch Connector links Route 123 and I-495, previously only connected at a congested interchange to the south of the project.
When it’s finished, the road will feature two travel lanes and on-street bike lanes in each direction. The road will also have 8-12 foot wide lighted sidewalks and a raised median to accommodate a future Tysons Circulator bus.
Final completion on the project is scheduled for next fall. By 2040, VDOT estimates the road will carry over 32,000 vehicles per day.
Photo via Virginia Department of Transportation
(Updated at 10:50 a.m.)Â As neighbors, McLean and Tysons couldn’t be more different. The former has a reputation as a quiet, suburban town with a long history and deep community roots, while the latter is a comparatively young and bustling pseudo-city in its own right.
But what happens in one will have a profound impact on the other, and Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust, who represents McLean, said that has become particularly clear with regards to regional traffic.
“Our plans say that Tysons development will be limited to Tysons and that the neighborhoods should be protected,” said Foust, “but the traffic that goes there goes through McLean and it has gotten worse.”
In discussions with members with the McLean Citizens Association, traffic was almost universally one of the most discussed items. The impact of the growing Tysons can already be felt in McLean, where both highways and residential streets are becoming increasingly clogged with commuter traffic. One of the big problems, on both a county and inter-state level, is the American Legion Bridge.
An average of 239,000 people use the American Legion Bridge every workday, according to a letter sent from the Fairfax Board of Supervisors to the Maryland Department of Transportation.
“The bridge is grossly over capacity,” said Foust. “It’s the responsibility of Maryland now. We’ve been encouraging them to expand… expansion would be a huge difference.”
Maryland has previously announced a $9 billion investment in reducing traffic congestion, including adding toll lanes north of the bridge, but the bridge itself remains a roadblock for commuter traffic heading to or from Tysons and McLean.
But expanding, supplementing, or replacing the bridge all come with difficulties. VDOT engineers have said that the bridge cannot be expanded and that it has reached capacity. Adding a new bridge to the site would also be difficult, if not impossible, given the low-density zoning in the area aimed at protecting the Potomac River. Fully replacing the bridge is a popular suggestion, but one that could take decades of planning, environmental, and financial work.
In the meantime, Foust said that traffic improvement projects in Tysons, like the Jones Branch Extension currently underway, will also help regional traffic flow. The new extension should take some pressure Route 123 and hopefully reduce congestion in McLean.
Ultimately, Foust said Tysons and McLean are going to need to rely on non-car transportation to help take some of the pressure off local roads. But paradoxically a lack of car-supporting infrastructure, at McLean Station on the Silver Line especially, makes that difficult.
“There’s a lack of parking at the stations here,” said Foust. “There’s no plan in place to build a lot [at McLean Station]. It’s very inconvenient. Generally, the Board does not want to encourage more traffic to drive into Tysons, but that means my constitutes can’t utilize the Metro.”
Foust said the County is working on expanding bus transportation, but that it will take a long time to get that to a convenient level. Given the growing pressure of traffic coming in and out of Tysons, it’s time McLean may not have.