Georgetown Pike will be repaved until mid-November. Photo by Reena Singh.
An eight mile strip of Georgetown Pike will be repaved for the next two months.
The $3.2 million project, a late summer effort to smooth roads before winter hits again, may not have a significant traffic pattern impact on the already congested historic road.
“We rank all of our roads based on how much they have deteriorated,” said Virginia Department of Transportation spokesperson Joan Morris. “This is at the top of our list and it was time to get it done.”
Many of the delays will be at night, where drivers can expect single lane closures. From 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday, the strip of Georgetown Pike between I-495 and Springvale Road will be milled and re-asphalted. The project started on Sunday.
The road project known as the Walker Road diet was recently completed in late March. Road work to widen Route 7 is still underway to make way for the surge of traffic expected in the next few years as the Silver Line becomes more popular with Loudoun County commuters.
Great Falls Citizens Association said the repaving project is necessary to complete this year.
“Georgetown Pike has become one long stretch of patched and unpatched potholes, poorly repaved utility work, and crumbling road shoulders which make the road even narrower,” said GFCA Transportation Committee Co-Chair Scott Knight. “This work is past due because most of the bumps in the road are temporary repairs that have been allowed to remain for several years. Given the amount of traffic that goes through Great Falls and the fact that Georgetown Pike operates well above its designed capacity, this road's maintenance should be given a higher priority."
He said the project is not just important to local citizens; it has an impact on commuters throughout Northern Fairfax County, Loudoun County and even Maryland.
“A bumpy road like this is both unpleasant and unsafe,” said Knight. “ It makes it more difficult to stop and easier to drive off the road."
Although the Transportation Committee supports the project, Knight acknowledged some of the downsides to the night repaving.
"The work will be performed during the night, so some of us who live on Georgetown Pike will likely be losing some sleep," Knight said.