VDOT News - Bristol

BRISTOL, Va. – The tallest bridges in Virginia opened to traffic today (November 16), marking a major milestone in the effort to build a new transportation corridor in the Appalachian region.

The Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Route 460 Connector Phase I project, located near Breaks Interstate Park, is the first portion of federally-designated Corridor Q in Virginia between Grundy, Va., and Kentucky to open to traffic. At 265-feet high and 1,733-feet long, the twin bridges over Grassy Creek are the tallest in the Commonwealth.
 

Route 460 Phase 1 is approximately 1-mile in length. In addition to the bridges over Grassy Creek, the project includes an access ramp and bridge over Hunts Creek and Route 768 to access Route 80 and nearby Breaks Interstate Park.
 

The project began as a design-build project in 2009, awarded to Bizzack Construction, LLC, Lexington, Ky. Construction concluded in 2015.
 

VDOT and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet coordinated the opening of the Route 460 Connector with the opening of a portion of Kentucky’s Route 460 work.

“Kentucky’s milestone of completing a portion of new Route 460 from the state line to near Elkhorn City meant VDOT would be able to open Phase I, greatly improving access for local motorists,” Acting Major Projects Program Manager Marty Halloway, P.E. said.
 

Including Phase I, just under 10 miles of Corridor Q in Virginia has been constructed to rough grade, with three additional miles of construction underway on the Route 460/121 Poplar Creek Phase A project in Buchanan County.

In 2023, all the projects currently completed to rough grade will be paved and open to traffic from the state line to Route 744 at Southern Gap.

“Current circumstances created by the pandemic kept us from formally celebrating this milestone, we are looking forward to celebrating the opening of 10 miles of Corridor Q in the near future,” VDOT Bristol District Administrator Donny Necessary said.  (END)

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