Traffic will be limited to one lane on a portion of Walker Road in Great Falls this weekend.
Flaggers will direct traffic on the 0.2-mile stretch of road between Park Royal Drive and Walker Mill Road from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday (May 18), the Virginia Department of Transportation announced.
“Drivers should expect delays and are advised to use alternate routes,” VDOT said, noting that the roadwork is dependent on the weather.
Alternating access between northbound and southbound drivers, the flagging operation is necessitated by construction that began in December 2024 on a replacement of the Walker Road bridge over Piney Run.
Originally built in 1932 and reconstructed in 1978, the one-lane bridge can only support vehicles that weigh less than 10 tons and consistently floods during major storms, according to VDOT. An average of 4,800 vehicles cross the bridge per day.
State transportation planners got approval in 2017 for a new, two-lane design that will include a sidewalk on the southbound side, a wider opening under the bridge, and the addition of rocks to reinforce the stream bank against flooding.
The bridge replacement was among several changes supported by a safety assessment that VDOT released last October to address complaints about visibility and speeding along Walker Road. According to the report, there were 43 reported crashes from 2019 to 2023 on the 2-mile road, which connects Colvin Run Road to Georgetown Pike.
In addition to expanding the bridge, the assessment recommended reconfiguring the road to reduce sharp curves and widen shoulders, restriping lanes and intersections, clearing vegetation, and installing signs to warn drivers about upcoming curves and draw attention to their speed.
However, residents with the Great Falls Citizens Association have argued that the redesigned bridge will, in fact, exacerbate safety issues by allowing heavier, faster-moving traffic through without fixing a sharp curve at the Walker Mill Road intersection north of the bridge.
According to VDOT, a two-lane bridge will reduce the risk of rear-end collisions, since drivers will no longer need to wait in a queue to cross. While speeding occurs, it’s limited by Walker Road’s curves, and many crashes are due to limited visibility, including at the bridge, the department previously told FFXnow.
At some point this summer, Walker Road will be closed for two weeks so the bridge can be replaced “using Accelerated Bridge Construction methods,” according to VDOT’s project page.
“Further details will be posted once they are available,” VDOT said.
The project is currently scheduled to finish construction in late 2025.
