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13 August 2012
Roundabout work will continue until April
Construction of the roundabout at the intersection of Rts. 53 and 600 – which began late last month - will take at least another eight months to complete.
Around 150 hours of labor have gone into the project since its groundbreaking on July 23. The official completion date is April 26.
The total cost of constructing the roundabout is $2.23 million. The costs come from preliminary engineering, right of way and construction. The cost for construction alone currently stands at $1.02 million.
Now that all of the land involved in the roundabout has been cleared and graded, the next step in the construction is to put in temporary pavement. This pavement will essentially shift Rt. 53 slightly to the south at the intersection, according to Stacy Londrey, communications specialist for the Virginia Department of Transportation in the Culpeper District.
Traffic patterns will shift slightly throughout construction, and there may be a delay in traffic at times, but the intersection will never be completely impassable to motorists, according to Londrey. “We’re doing the work in phases so that traffic can continue to use that intersection,” she said.
The main improvement that the county will see at the conclusion of this project is the elimination of the sharp curve that motorists face when they come to the stop sign at the end of Rt. 600. “The sight distance for motorists was not very good,” said Londrey about the curve. “Putting in the roundabout will improve sight distance, allowing traffic to move more smoothly and safely.”
