Fairfax County Parkway will be inaccessible from Popes Head Road for the next week, as the Virginia Department of Transportation prepares to start opening the reconfigured interchange in Fairfax Station.
As of 10 a.m. today (Wednesday), Popes Head Road is closed to drivers, and the traffic signal has been taken out of commission.
According to VDOT, the closure is expected to last until next Tuesday, June 2, at which point traffic will shift to a new bridge over Fairfax County Parkway. Some ramps leading to the new interchange, which will consist of three separate roundabouts, will also open.
“Details on these new traffic patterns will be forthcoming,” VDOT said.
During the closure, traffic on Popes Head Road seeking to turn onto Fairfax County Parkway, and vice versa, will be detoured to the Braddock Road intersection to the north:
- Those on northbound Fairfax County Parkway headed to eastbound Popes Head Road will be detoured via northbound Fairfax County Parkway, eastbound Braddock Road (Route 620) and southbound Route 123 (Ox Road).
- Those on northbound Fairfax County Parkway headed to westbound Popes Head Road will be detoured via northbound Fairfax County Parkway, westbound Braddock Road, and southbound Colchester Road (Route 612).
- Those on southbound Fairfax County Parkway headed to eastbound Popes Head Road will be detoured prior to the intersection via eastbound Braddock Road and southbound Route 123 (Ox Road).
- Those on southbound Fairfax County Parkway headed to westbound Popes Head Road will be detoured prior to the intersection via westbound Braddock Road (Route 620) and southbound Colchester Road (Route 612).
- Those on eastbound Popes Head Road headed to northbound or southbound Fairfax County Parkway will be detoured via northbound Colchester Road and eastbound Braddock Road.
- Those on westbound Popes Head Road headed to northbound or southbound Fairfax County Parkway will be detoured via northbound Route 123 and westbound Braddock Road.
- Those on eastbound Popes Head Road headed east of Fairfax County Parkway will be detoured via northbound Colchester Road, eastbound Braddock Road, and southbound Route 123.
- Those on westbound Popes Head Road headed west of Fairfax County Parkway will be detoured via northbound Route 123, westbound Braddock Road, and southbound Colchester Road.
“Drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians are reminded to use caution when traveling in active work zones,” VDOT said. “Be alert to new traffic patterns and limit distractions.”
Enforced by automated speed cameras, the speed limit on Fairfax County Parkway has been reduced from 50 to 45 mph in the construction zone from Popes Head Road to Burke Center Parkway.
Under construction since December 2023, the overhaul of the Fairfax County Parkway and Popes Head interchange is replacing a traditional, four-way intersection controlled by a traffic signal with a triple-roundabout configuration and two bridges.
The approximately $82.4 million project is intended to relieve congestion, allowing traffic to flow continuously through a crossing that sees an estimated 69,000 to 72,000 vehicles a day on the parkway compared to 1,700 to 3,600 vehicles per day on Popes Head Road, according to VDOT.
While the project is mostly focused on vehicular traffic, some improvements for pedestrians are included. Crews are adding a sidewalk on the north side of Popes Head Road, reconstructing the Fairfax County Parkway Trail and building a new shared-use path linking that trail to Patriot Park at the Mott Community Center south of Braddock Road.
The project is also extending Ladues End Lane to the new interchange and building an initial segment of the Shirley Gate Road extension currently being planned by Fairfax County.
A community meeting to share a proposed design for the project to extend Shirley Gate from Braddock Road to Fairfax County Parkway will be held on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m. in the Willow Springs Elementary School cafeteria.
Construction on the Popes Head/Fairfax County Parkway interchange project is on track to wrap up this fall, VDOT says.
Work is also underway to widen the parkway from four to six lanes both north and south of the new interchange. Those projects are expected to be completed in mid-2027.
