By next week, Route 123 motorists will have two travel lanes in each direction for 2.4 miles between Burke Lake Road and Lee Chapel Road in Fairfax County, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced today. It is the first of four phases to be completed as part of the eight-mile widening of Route 123 in Fairfax and Prince William Counties.

“Despite this spring’s unrelenting rain which presented numerous setbacks, VDOT is delivering Phase 1 of the Route 123 widening ahead of schedule and under budget,” said Tom Farley, VDOT’s district administration for Northern Virginia.

The new four-lane roadway includes two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction, a 41-foot-wide median, sound walls between Lee Chapel Road and Henderson Road as well as a traffic signal at Henderson Road. The project also included landscaping and a 10-foot-wide pedestrian trail on the east side of Route 123. A&W Contracting Corp. of Lorton was the contractor for construction. The cost for design, right of way and construction on Phase 1 is approximately $19.5 million.

VDOT is widening Route 123 in four phases for eight miles between Burke Lake Road and the Occoquan River. Construction began last August on the 2.5-mile section from Lee Chapel Road to North Davis Drive to be completed next summer. Last month, construction began on the 1.9 miles between North Davis Drive and Route 772 scheduled for completion in October 2004. The final section, widening the bridge over the Occoquan River to six lanes, is scheduled to begin this fall and be completed in 2006.

Preliminary engineering, right of way acquisition and construction of the entire project is expected to cost $117.5 million and is being funded by federal and state monies as well as bonds.

Page last modified: July 15, 2003