Construction work is officially kicking off on improvements to the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Lynn Street in Rosslyn, long one of Arlington’s most dangerous locations for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The Virginia Department of Transportation announced that is starting work on the two-year, $9.3 million project this week. Workers will add wider sidewalks, on-street bike lanes and improved curb ramps as the northbound and southbound sections of Lee Highway meet Lynn Street. The project will also include improvements to the Custis Trail as it runs alongside the Lee Highway, though some work on that effort already kicked off in March.
“These safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists and the traffic management improvements are part of a much larger effort by the county and our community to make Rosslyn a more livable and thriving neighborhood,” Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol said in a statement.
The county is helping to fund the construction. The project includes the “Corridors of Light” public art installation, which will feature “prominent elements at each of the four corners of the North Lynn Street bridge over I-66.”
The project, expected to wrap up in spring 2020, will require some lane and sidewalk closures. Full details from a VDOT press release:
For crews to complete the work, drivers can expect daytime and nighttime lane closures on southbound Lee Highway and North Lynn Street, on the following weekly schedule:
- Mondays through Thursdays: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Monday nights through Thursday nights: 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Fridays: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Friday nights: 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Saturday nights: 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
- Sunday nights: 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Bicyclists and pedestrians on the Custis Trail along southbound Lee Highway between North Lynn Street and North Oak Street can expect detours onto temporary paths around the work zone. Signs will notify bicyclists and pedestrians during these temporary configurations.
Pedestrians can also expect temporary closures of the sidewalks along North Lynn Street between northbound Lee Highway and southbound Lee Highway. When one sidewalk is closed, pedestrians will be detoured to sidewalk along the opposite side of the street.