Under Construction

Background

Over the last few years, VDOT has made a series of major improvements in the Gainesville area:

• The 1.3-mile, four-lane University Boulevard, connecting Route 29 and Wellington Road, opened in 2006 at a cost of $18 million. 
• Widening 3.3 miles of I-66 to eight lanes from Route 234 Business/Sudley Road to the Route 234 Bypass, completed in 2006 for $46 million.
• Widening 2.5 miles of I-66 to eight lanes from the Route 234 Bypass to Route 29 in Gainesville at a cost of $103 million.
• The new Route 29 and Linton Hall Road interchange, at a cost of about $267 million.

The commonwealth’s investment in all four projects totals $435 million.

What's Being Done

The new Route 29/Linton Hall Road interchange is one of the largest construction projects in Virginia.

The centerpiece is a pair of overpasses: one carrying Route 29 over the Norfolk Southern Railroad, and one carrying Linton Hall and Gallerher roads over the railroad and Route 29. To further improve traffic flow, crews will also widen Route 29 to six lanes and eliminate driveway entrances and two traffic signals between I-66 and Virginia Oaks Drive.

The new, grade-separated interchange at Route 29/Linton Hall Road will create a limited-access facility on Route 29 between Virginia Oaks Drive and Heathcote Boulevard.

View a video rendering of the new interchange. (For optimum viewing, right-click on the link and choose "Save as" to your local machine.)

Traffic Impacts

Access between Route 29 and Route 55 was closed permanently in Sept. 2010. Drivers can use Heathcote Boulevard to Catharpin Road to Route 55 or Gallerher Road to Route 55.

This summer 2013, Route 29 traffic will be switched to the new structure over the railroad tracks.

Detour Roads
Two temporary roads ( view map) carry both Route 29 and Linton Hall Road around the the work area for crews to construct the interchange.

Traffic Data
In 2008, I-66 carried 82,000 vehicles a day between Route 29 and the Route 234 Bypass, and is expected to carry more than 175,000 vehicles a day by 2028. Route 29 carried roughly 57,000 vehicles a day through Gainesville and is expected to increase to 87,000 by 2035. Linton Hall Road carried 15,500 vehicles per day in 2005, and by 2035 is expected to grow to 42,000.

Resources

Presentation from "pardon our dust" meeting (held May 18, 2012)
Map of detour roads
Photo renderings and video rendering of interchange improvements (50,189 KB)
(For optimum video viewing, right-click on the link and choose "Save as" to your machine.)

News releases
Route 29 Gainesville Makeover Begins (June 24, 2010)
Access Between Route 29 South and Route 55 to Close (Sept. 15, 2010)
 

Project Number 0066-076-113, C505 (UPC 52326)