SHA to split lanes at Beltway and Liberty Road
Motorists on the Beltway will encounter split lanes on the Inner Loop at Liberty Road starting Tuesday night as the State Highway Administration shifts into a new phase of its bridge replacement project at the site.
Workers will begin the process by closing one right lane at 7 p.m. and a second at 10 p.m. to install concrete barriers and pavement markings. On Wednesday mornings, drivers will find all four lanes of the Beltway open but with three lanes of through traffic flowing to the left of the barrier and one to the right. The right lane can be used either as a through lane or to exit.
According to the SHA, the split traffic pattern will remain in effect until late fall.
The work is part of a $25 million project to replace the Liberty Road bridge, which dates back to the construction of the Beltway in the 1950s and 1960s. The project is expected to continue until the fall of 2012.
SHA Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said the split traffic pattern will let crews replace the Inner Loop side of the bridge one lane at a time. Up until now, he said, the agency has been working on the bridge approaches and ends.
The SHA expects to introduce a similar traffic split on the Outer Loop later this summer. The Liberty Road work zones remains one of those in which speed cameras have been deployed.
Comments
Of course, keep the speed cameras up as long as they can and the split lanes should make an already extremely congested area worse.
Posted by: anon | June 7, 2011 5:09 PM
One confusing new addition I've seen is an EXIT ONLY lane currently hovering about the 2nd lane from the right on the Inner Loop approaching Liberty Road. I'm guessing this will line up right when the lanes are adjusted, but at the moment, it's a potentially dangerous source of confusion.
Posted by: AJ | June 8, 2011 4:23 PM
Is this project EVER going to be finished? SHA bridge projects seem to drag on forever.
Posted by: Gary | June 9, 2011 9:03 PM