Motorists are advised to use alternate routes such as Evergreen Mills Road. Residents of Watson Road will continue to be able to access their homes via connecting roads other than Route 50.

Watson Road currently carries about 1,700 vehicles per day at Route 50 and about 1,000 at Evergreen Mills Road.

The roundabout project is an effort to improve safety and traffic flow along Routes 50 and 15.  Roundabouts are being constructed at Gilbert’s Corner, Route 50 and Watson Road, and at either end of the recently built Howsers Branch Drive. The direct link Howsers Branch creates between Routes 50 and 15 will allow some northbound Route 15 and westbound Route 50 traffic to bypass Gilbert's Corner, reducing vehicles through that intersection by about one-third.

This $15.8 million project is scheduled to be complete in late 2009. Under a design-build contract with The Lane Construction Corporation and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., design and construction are being closely coordinated to reduce the project’s cost and duration.

Roundabouts are considered one of the safest types of intersection, moving traffic while reducing crashes, delays, fuel consumption, air pollution, and maintenance costs. More information on Virginia’s roundabouts, including an instructional video, printable brochure and Gilbert’s Corner project information is available at www.virginiadot.org.

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.