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This is last weekend of U.S. 29 closure
This is last weekend of U.S. 29 closure
By Tara Slate Donaldson
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
The wait is almost over for frustrated weekend travelers trying to head south on U.S. 29.
This weekend will be the last closure of the southbound lanes at Buckland.
A stretch of the highway has been closed on two weekends in August while Virginia Department of Transportation workers replace and improve the bridge.
“We've got our last detour this weekend,” VDOT spokesman Mike Salmon said on Tuesday, adding that the agency has decided to close the road only on Saturday and Sunday, leaving it open on Friday, contrary to its earlier plan.
The first weekend of the closure, the southbound lanes were shut down starting Friday night but “we got a lot of traffic problems there,” Salmon said.
The second weekend, they waited until Saturday night to close the road and everything worked well, so they plan to follow that schedule again this weekend.
The southbound lanes of U.S. 29 will be closed at the U.S 29 - U.S. 15 intersection so workers can install a new deck on the southbound bridge at Buckland, abut a half-mile south of U.S. 15.
The bridge replacement is a $2.8 million project that began in December.
Each weekend, crews have replaced one of three sections of the bridge. The final section will be replaced this weekend and then the bridge will be repaved.
Salmon said the work is going well and it is possible that the crews will wrap up on Sunday, rather than early Monday morning as scheduled.
“It should be a much better bridge; wider shoulders and much safer for everyone,” he said.
In the meantime, drivers traveling from Gainesville to Fauquier County will need to give themselves an extra 20 to 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday.
The northbound lanes will not be affected.
Detour for cars
Cars can detour around the closure by taking U.S. 29 south to U.S. 15 (James Madison Highway) north, then on to Route 55 west to Beverly Mill Road, which will lead back to U.S. 29 where the road reopens.
Detour for tractor-trailers
Tractor-trailer trucks can skirt U.S. 29, as well, but the detour is longer because they are banned on the two-lane Beverly Mill Drive. Trucks can instead take U.S. 15 north to Haymarket, get onto Interstate 66 west, get off at the U.S. 17 south exit, then take U.S. 17 south back to U.S. 29.
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