WM wins big at VTCA Awards

The primary project goal was to improve safety and operations focused on innovative geometric improvements to several intersections and interchanges within a geographical region. A secondary goal of the project was to deliver the six separate improvements by maximizing project delivery efficiency and taking advantage of the economy of scale. To secure and prioritize funding for all six improvements, VDOT (owner) bundled them together under one Design-Build project.

All six improvements are in Albemarle County, Virginia, surrounding the City of Charlottesville. These included converting the US 250/Route 151 and Routes 20/649 intersections into roundabouts; a new Rio Mills Road to Berkmar Drive connector road; ramp modifications along US 29 at the I-64 Exit 118 and Fontaine Avenue interchanges; and reconfiguring the existing I-64 Exit 124 at US 250 conventional diamond interchange into a Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI).

A seventh improvement, added post-award, was the US 250 truck arrestor system, installed approximately 1,800 feet west (uphill) of the new roundabout at US 250 and Route 151 to enable vehicles which are having braking problems on the long downhill grade to stop safely. This system is the first of its kind in Virginia and addresses an identified safety issue for trucks descending Afton Mountain.

Wallace Montgomery proudly served as Lead Designer for the Curtis Contracting, Inc. Design-Build Team, in collaboration with our subconsultants (CES Consulting, LLC, Bowman Consulting, Clark Nexsen, GET Solutions, and Floura Teeter Landscape Architects, Inc.)