NOVA - The Inner Loop - Winter 2021

the inner loop
VDOT NOVA DISTRICT MAGAZINE
WINTER 2020 / 2021
IN THIS ISSUE
Route 1 Improvements Open in Woodbridge
Custis Trail Bicycle Roundabout
Twitter Love

A Note From
Monica Bhatia
Acting Deputy District Administrator
In my dual role I’d like to take this opportunity to give a big thanks to the entire district for being
so adaptable in these challenging times. Our brave field forces have shown resilience with their
efforts, and our office staff, who have been teleworking, have stayed focused and productive to
keep our core functions moving forward and keep people moving safely throughout the district
and region.
In working in different roles throughout my VDOT career I have come across such wonderful
people who always go above and beyond to bring new ideas and get the job done with so much
passion.
I want to take a moment to thank my Business team who, despite the pandemic, made sure that
our visitors get attended to, our badges get issued, our mail is distributed, our employees and
vendors get paid on time, COVID-related safeguards are in place in our facilities, every employee
gets the IT equipment to get their job done in an efficient manner, and our district assets,
inventory, and fuel is meeting district needs.
In my role as Acting Deputy District Administrator, I am proud of the services our Maintenance
and Operations folks are providing by supporting emergency weather operations and incident
management. We provide professional and friendly customer service that demonstrates to the
public that VDOT is an outstanding organization.
I’m proud to be part of an organization that values not only its own people, but also those we
impact each and every day.
Thank you again for this past year. It’s an honor to witness the dedication you put into our
district each day.
Best Regards,

Route 1 Multimodal Improvements Open in Woodbridge
Drivers along about a mile of Route 1 in Woodbridge now have six travel lanes instead of four, and bicyclists and
pedestrians have a shared-use path and sidewalk along the entire stretch from Marys Way to Annapolis Way. The
Route 1 Widening Project’s other recently-completed components include:
• Additional turn lanes at the Route 1 and Occoquan Road intersection
• A new median on Occoquan Road from Route 1 to just south of Horner Road
• New Route 1 bridge over Marumsco Creek
The improvements aim to reduce congestion and improve safety for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, as well as
enhance access to the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express kiss-and-ride facility.
“VDOT is so proud to be part of this gateway project for Prince William County,” said District Construction Engineer
Bill Cuttler. “We want to thank the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, county transportation staff, the General
Assembly, the governor and transportation secretary’s offices, our contractor Fort Myer Construction Corporation,
consultants, and of course, our VDOT staff for getting it done!”
VDOT staff include Location and Design (Calvin Britt), Preliminary Engineering (Claudia Llana and Angel Tao),
Environmental, Structure and Bridge, Right of Way, Materials, Construction (Oscar Jamilla, Chan Basnayake, and team),
Traffic Engineering, Project Controls, and Communications!
Communications put a short video together showing the improvements. To get more information about the project
visit: virginiadot.org/Rt1Widening.
The Route 1 and Route 123 intersection near
the north end of the project.
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The project has enhanced access to the Woodbridge
Virginia Railway Express kiss-and-ride facility
The new Route 1 bridge over Marumsco Creek
carries six lanes of vehicle traffic, as well as the
new continuous southbound shared-use path
and northbound sidewalk
Turn lanes were added at the Occoquan
Road/Route 1 intersection
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In the fall, VDOT launched Virginia is for
Lovers, Not Litter, a campaign aimed
at raising awareness about Virginia’s litter
problem, and asking Virginians to commit to
the No Love for Litter Pledge to do their part
to keep the Commonwealth litter free.
VIDEO: Watch the promo video for the campaign
The agency has a comprehensive focus on
bettering the health and beauty of the state
through Adopt-a-Highway, the new Beautify
Virginia roadway sponsorships, Chesapeake
Bay Watershed programs, and pollinatorthriving
strategies.
Virginia Litter Facts:
Nearly a million
taxpayer dollars are
spent each year to clean
up litter on Virginia’s
roadways.
More than half of
roadway litter comes
from motorists and
another 25% is from
pedestrians
Significant roadway
litter comes from
trucks with improperly
covered loads
Nearly three-fourths
of litter comes from
people consciously
choosing to litter on
Virginia’s roads
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Trail Bicycle
Custis Roundabout
Arlington County welcomes the district’s firstever
bicycle roundabout. The project was
constructed on the south side of the Custis Trail
I-66 underpass and is designed to improve safety
and sightlines for pedestrians, cyclists, and other
users of the trail and Bon Air Park. The driving
force for the design was to reduce the impact
on nearby trees. As a result, the number of
trees that had to be cleared during construction
was reduced from about 30 to just two. The
roundabout is one of many components of the
Transform 66 Inside the Beltway Eastbound
Widening Project.
new travel lane along four miles of eastbound
I-66 and installed approximately 12,000 linear
feet of new and replacement noise barriers.
The project also includes constructing a new
direct access ramp from eastbound I-66 to the
West Falls Church Metro Station at the Route 7
interchange, and a new W&OD Trail bridge over
Lee Highway. To learn more about the project
visit inside.transform66.org.
A special thanks to VDOT staff and contractors
for a job well done! Together, we are keeping
Virginia moving!
The I-66 eastbound widening project added a
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#twitter_love
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SAFETY
REMINDER
THE NEW KASK HELMET IS REQUIRED FOR ALL FIELD EMPLOYEES!
If you have not received your KASK helmet, please contact your supervisor or District Safety Managers
Kwame.Acquah@VDOT.Virginia.gov and/or Judd.Hanberry@VDOT.Virginia.gov.
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Bridge Project at Busy Intersection in Tysons
The bridges that carry Route 123 over Route 7 were recently rehabilitated ahead of schedule and under budget. The
improvements to the bridges, built in 1965, aimed to extend their overall life as well as improve safety for drivers and
pedestrians, and give drivers a smoother ride.
The improvements included:
• Repairing the bridge decks and resurfacing the decks with asphalt
• Repairing bridge piers, abutments, and bearings
• Spot painting of steel bridge beams
• Repaving the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 123 adjacent to the bridges
The bridges carry up to 31,000 vehicles a day on Route 123, while up to 86,000 vehicles a day travel beneath the bridges on
Route 7.
“The low traffic volumes at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for the project team to
approve daytime lane closures and complete the project ahead of schedule,” said Area Construction Engineer Yusaf Masud.
“The project was also completed under budget.”
The project wouldn’t have reached completion without the efforts of Structure and Bridge (Saeed Joulapour, Brian Morrison),
Preliminary Engineering (Andy Beacher and the Fairfax PE team), Environmental, Materials, Construction (Ray Kollock, Yusaf
Masud, and team), Traffic Engineering, Project Controls, and Communications!
The deck of the southbound
Route 123 bridge over Route 7
was resurfaced with asphalt.
The rehabilitated and resurfaced
deck of the northbound Route 123
bridge over Route 7; Route 123 was
also repaved adjacent to the bridge.
The rehabilitated northbound Route 123 bridge
over Route 7; the project included repairing
bridge piers, abutments, and bearings.
The southbound Route 123 bridge
over Route 7; the project included
spot painting of the bridge beams.
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ew
-to-
ova
NPlease give a warm welcome
to the newest additions to the
Northern Virginia District:
Nicholas Bledsoe
NRO
Benjamin Cano San Miguel
McLean AHQ
MonRico Easter
Annandale AHQ
Shalise Hadden
Environmental
Nicholas Krause
Environmental
Anthony Kruppa
Dist Equipment
Zainullah Miakhil
Bridge
Hugh Morris
NRO Sign Crew
Daniel Roush
Chantilly AHQ
Justin Weiser
Environmental
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ideaDRIVER
You’ve likely heard it more than once, but 2020 definitley accelerated the VDOT of Tomorrow initiative.
We already have so many success stories to tell on working remotely, meeting virtually, and reinventing our
processes during the pandemic.
Here are just a few ways to keep up with VDOT of Tomorrow efforts:
Check out the latest developments on ideas generated from
Northern Virginia’s inNOVAtion Lab last year. Ideas from
Construction Technology Wearables to New Employee Coaching, and
Streamline Processes for Timesheets and more are helping to
shape our VDOT of Tomrrow!
Thanks to the evaluation team and everyone who worked on
solutioning and developing ideas. To learn more about how you
can vote, comment, or contribute to ideaDriver, please visit vdot.ideascalegov.com.
Your Local VAN Team
The VDOT of Tomorrow team, with the Office of Strategic Innovation and Workforce Development, is offering
webinars focusing on tools, technology, and leadership as we look to the future at VDOT. Watch for emails to
join via Google Meet or livestream on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. You can also watch past
webinars on the OSI InsideVDOT page. Watch now:
We represent many sections and locations, but any of us are available to share updates, get you info, or join
your team meeting for an update. Don’t forget to send questions, ideas, and stories any time!
Jennifer Estrella
Karen Hardy
Mark Hagan
Monica Bhatia
Autumn Liner
Tara Atkins
William Cuttler
Janice Dapper
Cherryl Clement
Jenni McCord
How to Deliver Five-Star
Customer Service
Ten Work Hacks from
Fortune 500 Companies
Organizing our
Technology Toolbox
Jon Dowell
Candice Gibson
Amir Shahpar
Mark Spring
Monique Blyther
VDOT of Tomorrow Webpage
Tell Us YOUR Stories
Get more information on VDOT’s three key priorities: preparing our people, empowering innovation, and
modernizing our methods, and the ten strategic initiatives behind them. Click on the banner on InsideVDOT.
Do you have a success story to tell? We’d love to hear about it, write about it, or get a video from you! We
can share your successes with others in the Inner Loop, on EBBs, or on InsideVDOT. Let your local VAN team
member know or shoot us an email! novapublicaffairs@vdot.virginia.gov
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COVID-19 RESOURCES
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Virginia Department of Health
• State Employee Assistance Program
• VDOT’s COVID-19 Information Page on
InsideVDOT has links to all of the latest
policies, documents and resources available
for VDOT employees
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We want to highlight the work you do to serve
the residents of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun,
and Prince William counties.
We share your stories here, on InsideVDOT, the
Electronic Bulletin Boards, VDOT-TV and social
media.
Have a good story? Tell us what’s happening!
novapublicaffairs@vdot.virginia.gov