Motorists traveling on Route 28 at night, be warned: Work on the new Barnsfield Road interchange will interfere with traffic north of Route 50, for the next two weeks. It's already begun and will continue through Oct. 12.
The partial-cloverleaf interchange will provide direct access to the National Air and Space Museum annex being built in Chantilly, and night work across Route 28 is necessary at this point by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
VDOT is beginning to set in place the beams that will carry Barnsfield Road over Route 28, about a mile north of the intersection of Routes 28 and 50. All work will be on Route 28 between the Sully Historic Site and McLearen Road.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, and Monday, Oct. 7, from 9 p.m.-5 a.m., Route 28's northbound left and center lanes will be closed. Its southbound left and center lanes will also be closed for crane and steel placement. One lane will remain open in each direction — however, steel placement will cause temporary closures of these lanes, for about 15 minutes, whenever necessary.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 8-9, from 9 p.m.-5 a.m., the southbound right and center lanes will be closed for crane and steel placement. But no total traffic stoppage is expected, and the northbound lanes should not be affected.
Message boards are already in place to alert motorists, and a Virginia state trooper will be on the scene to help direct traffic. Construction of the $8 million interchange, being built by Shirley Contracting Co., will be completed by fall 2003 in time for the museum annex's opening, that December.
<tgl> — Bonnie Hobbs