Interstate 95 travelers will have to navigate new traffic patterns in the Fredericksburg area with the opening of the 10-mile extension of 95 Express Lanes late Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Southbound Express Lanes travelers will be able to drive an additional 10 miles south in the new facility to the Route 17 area. Exiting travelers can enter local I-95 southbound travel lanes near the Rappahannock River to access the Route 17 or Route 3 interchanges or continue in the I-95 southbound through travel lanes toward Spotsylvania or Richmond.
Northbound I-95 through travelers approaching from the Rappahannock River area will be able to enter Express Lanes using a left ramp entrance near the Route 17 interchange. Additional new access points to and from the Express Lanes near Marine Corps Base Quantico and Courthouse Road will open in late 2023. Following the reopening of the I-95 general-purpose lanes from exits 130 to 133 in late 2023, local traffic seeking to enter the northbound Express Lanes will use a new flyover ramp near Route 17.
Interstate 95 travelers are navigating new traffic patterns in the Fredericksburg area since the opening of the 10-mile extension of 95 Express Lanes in 2023.
Southbound Express Lanes travelers are able to drive an additional 10 miles south in the new facility to the Route 17 area in Stafford. Exiting travelers can enter local I-95 southbound travel lanes near the Rappahannock River to access the Route 17 or Route 3 interchanges or continue in the I-95 southbound through travel lanes toward Spotsylvania or Richmond.
Northbound I-95 through travelers approaching from the Rappahannock River area can enter Express Lanes using a left ramp entrance near the Route 17 interchange. Northbound I-95 traffic in the local lanes seeking to enter the northbound Express Lanes uses a new flyover ramp near Route 17.
Additional new access points to and from the Express Lanes near Marine Corps Base Quantico and Courthouse Road in Stafford are also open.
The Express Lanes extension is a design-build project with a total estimated cost of $670 million. Construction started in June 2019 and the project is scheduled to open to traffic in late 2023. Transurban is funding this project and is managing construction, and the project contractor is Branch Civil-Flatiron. For more information, please visit the Fredericksburg Extension project page on the Express Lanes website. Read a brochure about how the Fredericksburg Extension Express Lanes will operate.
Issue Request for Proposals (RFP): Spring 2018
Final NEPA decision: January 2018
Public hearings: September 2017
Public information meetings: March 2017
Partial opening date (mainline): August 2023
Opening date (all new access points): Late 2023
Truslow Road Overpass construction complete: April 2021
American Legion Road Overpass construction complete: January 2023
Construction start: June 2019
Design-Build contract award: Fall 2018
Crews will open a new Interstate 95 southbound off-ramp at the exit 133 (Route 17) interchange in Stafford County early Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Between midnight and 6 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, drivers on I-95 southbound seeking to exit to Route 17 northbound toward Warrenton or Route 17 Business (Warrenton Road) southbound toward Falmouth will begin using a new off-ramp. The new off-ramp begins before the decision point between the I-95 southbound local and through lanes, north of the Truslow Road overpass.
Southbound I-95 drivers exiting at this interchange are advised to stay right on I-95 southbound after exit 136 (Centreport Parkway) to access the new off-ramp. Travelers merging onto the exit 133 off-ramp will be divided by concrete barrier before the division of local and through lanes.
Once drivers enter the new off-ramp to exit 133, they must exit to either Route 17 northbound or Route 17 Business southbound. They will be unable to continue on the local lanes toward exit 130 (Route 3) in Fredericksburg.
If motorists miss the new off-ramp to Route 17, they should continue traveling on the I-95 southbound local lanes across the Rappahannock River to exit 130, where they can exit and then enter I-95 northbound to return to exit 133.
The temporary traffic signal at the existing southbound off-ramp at exit 133 will be removed. I-95 southbound motorists traveling to Route 17 northbound will continue to stay right on the off-ramp, and merge onto Route 17. Drivers traveling to Route 17 Business southbound will stay left on the off-ramp, and use the re-opened loop ramp to travel toward Falmouth.
Message boards are posted to alert travelers to the new off-ramp location and pattern starting Tuesday.
Once the new ramp opens early Tuesday, brief overnight closures will be needed between midnight and 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3-Friday, Aug. 5 mornings to shift work zone barrier and complete other construction activities. Only exiting traffic seeking Route 17 northbound toward Warrenton is affected. On these mornings, drivers can stay left to exit to Route 17 Business toward Falmouth, and follow posted signs to access Route 17 northbound. Only one night of work is required, but additional evenings have been scheduled as needed.
Overnight bridge beam lifts near Quantico will require crews to close I-95 southbound and detour all southbound traffic at exit 148 (Quantico). Crews are building a future flyover bridge that will serve as a new access point to the Express Lanes from Russell Road near Quantico Marine Corps Base.
Starting at 11 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 8, crews will detour all I-95 southbound traffic at exit 148 to Route 1 to re-enter I-95 south at exit 143 (Route 610/Garrisonville).
The closure and detour will occur between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. each evening through early Thursday, Aug. 11. For more information about the work zone, please visit expresslanes.com.
Final Design Noise Report Oct. 2020
Outreach has been underway since 2017 for the 95 Express Lanes Fredericksburg Extension project.
Public meetings for this project were held in Prince William and Stafford counties in 2017. Materials from these meetings are available below.
Meeting Materials
Previous Environmental Studies
95 Express Lanes Fredericksburg Extension Corridor 2017 Traffic Data
Comprehensive Agreement
Final Interchange Justification Report (IJR)
Revised Environmental Assessment: Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
Environmental Documents
Last updated: May 1, 2024