Route 50/Courthouse Road Project Delayed

The $39 million Route 50/Courthouse Road/10th Street interchange project is apparently running behind schedule.

The project was originally slated for completion this fall but, in a new county-produced video, Greg Emanuel, Director of Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, says the project is now slated to be complete by the summer of 2014.

The VDOT website now lists “mid-2014” as the completion date, though a recently-updated Arlington County project page still lists “fall 2013.”

“It’s a multi-phased project,” Emanuel said in the video (above.) “It takes some time, because while it’s going on we need to maintain traffic.”

Arlington is contributing $1 million to the $39 million cost of the VDOT-led project. Construction started in April 2011. Recent work includes a realignment of the ramp from Courthouse Road to westbound Route 50, and the January demolition of the bridge from eastbound Route 50 to Courthouse Road.

The Courthouse Road bridge, and the 10th Street bridge that was torn down last year, were both originally built in 1954. No word yet on when they’ll be rebuilt, given the change in the project timeline.

Emanuel says the project will make the interchange safer and will help traffic flow more smoothly.

“Right now traffic is kind of complicated at these intersections,” he said. “This is going to provide new acceleration and deceleration lanes, and make it much safer for the traveling public that’s coming on and off these intersections.”

So far representatives from VDOT and DES have not responded to a request for comment.