The Virginia Department of Transportation announced on May 22 that it will hold a public “pardon our dust” meeting about the upcoming construction to replace the Route 695 (Windmill Point Road) bridge over Oyster Creek in Lancaster County. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 4, at 5 p.m. at the White Stone Volunteer Fire Department in White Stone.
The purpose of the meeting is to inform residents and stakeholders about the construction process and what to expect during the project. Staff from both VDOT and Kokosing Construction Company, Inc., which will carry out the work, will be present to share information and answer questions.
Construction is expected to begin in July. Crews will first install a temporary single-lane bridge parallel to the existing structure. Traffic will use this temporary bridge during construction, with a traffic signal controlling one-way alternating movement. The temporary bridge will have a load restriction of 45 tons for vehicles.
The current Windmill Point Road bridge was built in 1930 and serves as Fleets Island’s only roadway access. It has several posted weight limits: 25 tons for vehicles with four or five axles, up to 40 tons for tractor-trailers with three or more axles. When finished in May next year, the new two-lane bridge will support all legal vehicle weights.
An average of about 500 vehicles cross Oyster Creek daily on this route. The $10.3 million project is funded through Virginia’s State of Good Repair program.
VDOT oversees planning, building, maintaining and operating Virginia’s roads, bridges and tunnels as part of its mission to provide safe and efficient transportation according to the official website. The agency manages one of America’s largest state highway systems spanning tens of thousands of lane-miles across Virginia.
