Loudoun County officials are celebrating the completion of another major road improvement project that will help alleviate traffic congestion: the widening of Belmont Ridge Road (Route 659) from Gloucester Parkway to Hay Road. Members of the Board of Supervisors joined with representatives of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and others for a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday.
"In Loudoun County, we have found innovative ways to fund critical congestion-relieving projects for our residents," said Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis J. Randall, who also serves as vice chair of NVTA. "I look forward to continuing our strong partnership with VDOT, NVTA and others to reduce traffic that ensures families can spend more quality time together."
The project reconstructed and widened a nearly two-mile segment of Belmont Ridge Road from two lanes to a four-lane, median-divided roadway with shared use paths on both sides of the roadway. Other improvements include:
- A new bridge over the W&OD Trail, which improves the safety of bicyclists, pedestrians and equestrians who use the trail
- A new parking lot for users of the W&OD Trail
- Noise barriers for the Belmont Ridge and Belmont Forest communities
- Traffic signal modifications.
"Projects like the Belmont Ridge Road widening are regionally impactful and illustrate the ongoing need to improve the region's multimodal transportation network," said Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Chairman Martin E. Nohe, who is also the Coles District Supervisor in Prince William County. "Northern Virginians will be able to travel more safely and easily and spend less time on the road, allowing them to get home to their families faster. It is amazing to see these congestion-relieving improvements that began more than two years ago come to fruition."
The road improvements will relieve traffic on Belmont Ridge Road and other area roadways as well as allow motorists to travel directly to community destinations such as libraries, schools, hospitals, the Brambleton Public Safety Center, and multiple retail and commercial establishments.
"VDOT is proud of our strong partnership with Loudoun County, the NVTA, and our contractor community who is delivering another quality project for commuters and trail users in Northern Virginia," said VDOT Northern Virginia District Engineer Helen Cuervo.
The cost of the project currently totals approximately $52 million, including a combination of local, NVTA regional and state dollars. This is the first roadway project that NVTA fully reimbursed to Loudoun County. Funding expended to-date includes $30.8 million from Loudoun County, $20 million from NVTA, and $1.8 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The project was administered by VDOT. Final project costs will be reported in the coming months as the project's financial closeout takes place.
In conjunction with several other road roadway improvement projects, including the Route 7-659 interchange construction project, Belmont Ridge Road will eventually be a four-lane roadway from Route 7 to Evergreen Mills Road.
