STATE FINDS $48M FOR I-81, EXIT 310 August 8, 2012 By VIC BRADSHAW The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has the $48 million needed to pay for the reconfiguration of Exit 310 on Interstate 81.
Terry Short, assistant planner for VDOT, delivered that news to members of the Winchester-Frederick County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Tuesday morning.
Money for the project at the Frederick County interchange came from various sources, Short said. Some was planned funding, and unused money for other projects was redirected to the Exit 310 work.
TAC members voted 7-0 to recommend that the MPO’s Policy Board accept the project’s budget amendments and approve the 20-day comment period regarding the changes.
“This authorizes right of way and construction (budget lines) to receive funds,” Short told committee members.
The project’s first stage involves reconstructing the exit’s ramps in a “spread diamond” configuration. That would widen the ramps outward from their current intersections with Va. 37.
The new design would provide more turn room, add dual left- and right-turn movements to help traffic flow more efficiently, and increase merge lanes to 1,200 feet.
Tasker Road also would be relocated 1,100 feet to the east, putting it in the middle of Glaize Developments Inc.’s Crosspointe project.
Scott Alexander, a project manager in VDOT’s Staunton District, said Tuesday afternoon that the timetable for the project remains unchanged.
Right of way acquisition probably will start late this winter or early next spring, he said. Construction should begin in October 2014 and take about two years.
Alexander said that exactly what will be done in future stages depends on traffic-development trends over the next several years. Ultimately, a cloverleaf interchange might be built.
“We’re designing the initial phase,” he said, “to accommodate all options.”