Work has begun on Hydraulic / U.S. 29 projects 

Construction is underway for a series of projects that will alter the way motorists and other travelers navigate through the intersection of U.S. 29 and Hydraulic Road, adding elements of infrastructure that have to do double duty for one of the area’s busiest crossroads. Visitors to Hydraulic Road will notice orange barrels within the right of way owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

“We’ve started some early drainage work and some demolition work that needs to take place,”  said Will Stowe, construction engineer for a package of improvements that have four components including installing a roundabout at Hydraulic and Hillsdale. 

Other elements include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 and removing left-hand turn movements from Hydraulic onto U.S. 29. The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the package of projects in round 4 of a selection process called Smart Scale after an intersection project with a larger scope failed to qualify for funds in round 3. 

“We looked at this in the 2018 Smart Scale round, developed a grade-separated intersection at Hydraulic and 29, and it scored way down on the list because of the cost,” said Hal Jones, a project manager with VDOT’s Culpeper District. “I think it was on the order of $100 million to do that work.”

These four projects have a budget of $24 million. Another change is that the bridge over U.S. 29 at Zan Road was originally to have carried vehicles but now it will be for non-motorized transport. 

Some elements of what’s officially known as Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29 Transportation Improvements trace back to the Route 29 Solutions initiative. That refers to a series of transportation investments made after the final demise of a project to build a 6.2 mile western bypass. That project was dormant for many years before being resurrected by the administration of former Governor Bob McDonnell. 

When McDonnell left office, the project did not have the support of his successor, Terry McAuliffe, and the dozens of millions of dollars that had been allocated for the bypass went instead to an extension of Berkmar Drive, the routing of Rio Road above U.S. 29, and other projects. 

The project is classified as a “design build” project where a single contractor oversees the engineering, right of way acquisition, utility relocation, and construction.

“Unlike a normal VDOT project we have some of those things going on concurrently right now,” Stowe said. 

The four projects are at different stages of the process from a funded idea to something people will be able to use. 

“We have fully designed the elements along Hydraulic roadway,” Stowe said. “The pedestrian bridge that is across U.S. 29 is still in design. We haven’t reached the final design for that element yet but currently we are acquiring right of the way for the project.” 

For now construction is taking place primarily at night with lane closures. 

“From 9pm to 6am are the typical hours,” Stowe said. “We have some extended hours on the weekends, just a little bit longer, but a lot different.”

Stowe said there are currently no detours but one will occur at the intersection of Hillsdale and Hydraulic perhaps as early as this summer. 

One item that’s caused some concern is the removal of the left-hand turn movements from Hydraulic onto U.S. 29. 

“The primary reason for that is really to increase the throughput,” Stowe said. “We take the time that it takes for those left turn movements to get greentime at the signal, we take that time and give it to the other movements, Route 29 and the Hydraulic through movement. That really provides a lot better throughput for both of those roads.” 

Stowe said motorists who take those turns will find alternatives if they think of the additional ways that exist to get around the area. In the future that will also include another roundabout at District Avenue and Hydraulic that was funded in Smart Scale Round 5 and will be built in a few years. 

“What we’re telling people the primary different routes are if you were coming Hydraulic eastbound and you used to take a left to  go 29 Borth, you can simply go through the intersection, come down to the roundabout that we’ll be building at Whole Foods and do a U-turn and come back and take a right turn to go north,” Stowe said. 

Westbound motorists on Hydraulic who want to go south onto U.S. 29 would have to make a right hand turn and then do a U-turn. In the future, they’d be able to travel through the intersection and reverse course at the District Avenue roundabout. 

Some might ask how this got approved. There was a design public hearing for the project in May 2022, a mandatory step in the public engagement process. 

The District Avenue roundabout will also have its design public hearing and public comment period in the near future. 

“They’re just beginning the scoping process for that and currently it’s expected to be a bid build project and there are some right of way impacts with likely relocation of residents so that one is going to take quite a bit of time to development but its underway,” Jones said. 

Want to know more about that project? Mark your calendar for April 16 when a citizen information meeting is scheduled. 

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