Subway Update: Bridges Soaring Over the Capital Beltway

Subway construction now truly dominates Tysons Corner from Route 123 to Route 7. Both are ribbons of shifting lanes and traffic patterns. The piers that will carry the track along Route 7 are taking shape.

Large concrete segments are being hoisted into place above the Capital Beltway to build  the bridges  that will carry the Silver Line tracks up and  across this busy interstate in Tysons Corner, the largest concentration of office and retail development in Virginia.
 
Using what is called a "balanced cantilever construction technique", the process involves a huge white horizontal crane, also known as a truss. Crews officially began working on the crossing of the Beltway in mid-February.  Project officials estimate this work will take almost a year to complete.
 
Over  the coming months, this work will require overnight lane closings on the inner and outer loops of the Beltway near Route 123.  Some of those closings will be for multiple lanes.
 
Currently, three northbound lanes are closed nightly Sundays through Fridays from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. These closings will continue until late March, causing significant delays for motorists.  However, traffic continues to flow through the single open lane northbound.
 
In addition, the exit ramps from northbound I-495 to both northbound and southbound Route 123 will be closed during these same hours. Drivers are being directed to use the following detour:
 
    ·         To access Route 123 from I-495, drivers will be directed  to detour by continuing on the Beltway north, exiting Georgetown Pike (Route 193), turning around at Georgetown Pike, then entering the southbound Beltway.
 
    ·      Drivers will be able to exit to both directions of Route 123 from southbound I-495.
 
However, drivers on northbound I-495 approaching the Route 123 exit seeking destinations in the heart of Tysons Corner or in the Vienna /McLean/Falls Church area can also exit the Beltway at Route 7.
 
Additional closings will be announced at a later date. In mid-Summer, complete closures of the northbound and/or southbound lanes of I-495 will be scheduled.

Background: The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is building a 23-mile extension of the existing Metrorail system from East Falls Church to Washington Dulles International Airport than west to Ashburn. (We may see this in our lifetime.)

Phase 1: East Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue in Reston. 11.5 miles.  Four new stations in Tysons and one at Wiehle Road. Completion date: 2013.

Cost: $2.6 billion. The proposed Fairfax County Schools budget is $2.2 billion for the coming fiscal year. The proposed Fairfax County budget is $6 billion.

Phase 2: Wiehle Avenue to Ashburn. 11.6 miles. Six more stations including one at Dulles International Airport. No start date.

Cost: Still working on them.

Station Construction: Four are in Tysons Corner: Tysons East along Route 123 at Scotts Crossing Road, Tysons Central 123 along Route 123 at Tysons Boulevard near Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria, Tysons Central 7 in the median of Route 7 near SAIC and Marshalls, and Tysons West, in the median of Route 7 between Spring Hill and Tyco Roads.  The last stop in Phase 1 is in the median of the Dulles International Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road, just west of the Wiehle Avenue overpass.

The mining of the inbound and outbound tunnels to carry tracks from Route 123 to Route 7 and connect the Tysons Central 123 and Central 7 Stations is complete. Crews are now doing waterproofing and other work inside these tunnels.