With construction activities on northern Virginia's new interstate express lanes increasing and now concentrated in the median along the project's corridor, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension (495 NEXT) project partner, Transurban, have launched a driver safety campaign.
One of the world's leading toll-road developers and operators, Transurban was established in Australia in 1996. It currently operates 22 toll roads, including in the Washington, D.C., Montreal, Canada areas and in its home country cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The "Closer Than You Think" awareness campaign in Northern Virginia emphasizes to drivers that active roadway construction and hundreds of workers are directly adjacent to the Capitol Beltway traffic.
The program will leverage ads on radio, as well as various social media platforms, throughout September and into October as "back to work and school" traffic resumes and drivers adjust to post-summer travel patterns.
As crews are now actively building four new express lanes (two lanes in each direction) in the center portion of the roadway, slowing down and remaining alert when driving through the 495 NEXT work zone remains critical to ensure the safety of travelers and workers alike.
The new, extended express lanes are scheduled to open by the end of 2025.
The $660 million 495 NEXT project is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia and Transurban. Lane Construction in Charlotte, N.C., is the design-build contractor for the road project.
"VDOT, along with our project partner and contractor partners, is laser-focused on finishing the 495 Express Lanes northern extension — and doing so safely — so that travelers in northern Virginia and the larger area can begin experiencing relief on this heavily congested section of the Beltway," said Michelle Shropshire, the transportation agency's director of megaprojects.
"Our most important priority is the safety of people traveling through and working within this corridor," she said. "We are asking drivers to partner with us in keeping each other safe by slowing down, staying alert and eliminating distractions when traveling through the 495 NEXT project area."
With 495 NEXT Crews Close By, Drivers Must Stay Alert
Work on the new I-495 express lanes will be ongoing through the fall of 2025 during daytime and nighttime hours, as well as over some weekends. Construction activities include:
• demolishing retired pavement, jersey barriers and old piers in the highway median for the replaced bridges at Live Oak Drive, Georgetown Pike and Old Dominion Drive;
• building new drainage infrastructure;
• paving new express lanes and installing lane markings;
• finishing construction of new express lane ramps; and
• installing roadside and overhead signs and new tolling and traffic management systems infrastructure and equipment.
In addition to building the express lanes, crews are working to complete the three Beltway bridges that were rebuilt and performing any finishing work that remains on the four bridges that were rehabilitated. Work also is under way to finish the installation of new, upgraded noise walls along the corridor, according to information from VDOT.
"At Transurban, our number one focus is always safety, both for our crews and for drivers," said Beau Memory, president of Transurban North America. "That is why we are proud to partner with VDOT to promote roadway safety as our team advances 495 NEXT. Throughout the construction corridor, teams will be working very close to active roadways; this campaign will help remind travelers about the importance of staying alert and cautious behind the wheel — because it is [everyone's] responsibility to keep safe."
VDOT planned the 495 NEXT project to extend the existing 495 Express Lanes 2.5 mi. to the north from the Dulles Corridor Interchange to the George Washington Memorial Parkway Interchange in the vicinity of the American Legion Bridge over the Potomac River into Maryland.
It also was designed to provide new and improved connections at both the Dulles Corridor and the G.W. Parkway.
Other project benefits, which are planned to be open and/or complete in 2026, include 4 mi. of new bicycle and pedestrian connections (including a shared-use path parallel to I-495 from Lewinsville Road to near Live Oak Drive), revegetation and creation of a new Scott's Run Nature Preserve parking area.
