Despite the delays in the reopening of Brooke Road, the project is on schedule, and, currently, running ahead of its contractual completion date of March 2020. Unfortunately, the portion of the project requiring the closure of Brooke Road is taking longer than expected. Current projections put the reopening of Brooke Road to thru-traffic by the end of October.

To recap the project, it began in September 2018 with an initial closing of Brooke Road in the Stagecoach Lane area. The original plans called for two extended closures, along with multiple single lane closures, that would accommodate different phases of the project – a difficult project involving realigning and widening hairpin, rising turns. Officials opted to condense the road closings to a single phase in an effort to cut the cost of construction and limit the disruption to drivers. The reopening was then scheduled for January 2019.

This opening was delayed by the wettest year on record for the Stafford area in 2018 and then further delayed, when vinyl sheet pilings, required by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), failed. A substitute was found and had to be reinstalled, pushing the reopening to September 2019.

As officials were preparing to reopen Brooke Road to the public, VDOT discovered deficiencies during a safety inspection and did not release the road as expected. At this time, Stafford is working with the contractor to correct the remaining issues as soon as possible and hold the contractor accountable to the agreed-upon terms for closure provisions. The public will be updated as more information becomes available.

More information may be found about the Brooke Road Safety Improvement Project on Stafford’s website at www.staffordcountyva.gov/transportation.