Sycolin Road Project Update; Community Meetings Announced

This summer, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will start work on a $20 million project to improve safety and traffic flow by replacing the existing signalized intersection with an overpass carrying Sycolin Road over the Route 7/15 Bypass in Leesburg.

The project will eliminate the traffic signal and existing turn lanes from the Route 7/15 Bypass to Sycolin Road, and from Sycolin Road to the Bypass, removing direct access between the two roads.

The new bridge over the Bypass will include two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction, sidewalk along the southbound lanes, and a barrier-separated, shared-use path along the northbound lanes.

Traffic Impacts
During construction, Sycolin Road will be closed to traffic between Gateway Drive and Hope Parkway, and drivers can expect periodic day and night lane closures, and some overnight complete road closures on the Route 7/15 Bypass. Most overnight road closures will be brief, lasting 20-25 minutes. Message boards will be in place approaching the project area in each direction on Sycolin Road and on the Route 7/15 Bypass throughout the project to notify drivers of scheduled closures.

Sycolin Road detour – Beginning June 8, Sycolin Road will be closed between Gateway Drive and Hope Parkway while crews build the overpass. The closure is expected to last through mid-August 2014.
Detour signs will in place to direct drivers to the following alternate routes (detailed, color-coded map):

• North detour (green route): Westbound Battlefield Parkway to Miller Drive SE to westbound Dulles Greenway (Rt. 267) to eastbound Rt. 7/15 Bypass to westbound Rt. 7 to Plaza Street SE/Sycolin Road (This section of Greenway does not require a toll).
• South detour (blue route): Plaza Street to eastbound Rt. 7 to westbound Rt. 7/15 Bypass to eastbound Dulles Greenway (Rt. 267) to eastbound Battlefield Parkway to Sycolin Road (This section of Greenway does not require a toll).
• Alternate north detour (purple route): Eastbound Battlefield Parkway to westbound Rt. 7 to Plaza Street SE/Sycolin Road
• Alternate south detour (yellow route): Eastbound Rt. 7/15 Bypass to eastbound Rt. 7 to westbound Battlefield Parkway to Sycolin Road.

Access between Sycolin Road and the Bypass – When construction begins June 8, direct access to and from the Bypass will be removed permanently. When the Sycolin Road overpass opens in 2014, drivers will continue to use the suggested alternate routes to access Sycolin Road from the Bypass and the Bypass from Sycolin Road.

Community Meetings
Residents are invited to meet the project team and learn more about construction and traffic impacts from 7 to 8 p.m. on April 4, at Cool Springs Elementary School, 501 Tavistock Drive SE in Leesburg.

VDOT will also hold a “pardon our dust” meeting in May prior to the start of construction. The date, time and location for this meeting will be announced later.

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