Route 895 Construction - December 2001 - Photos 6-10
Here's 5 photos of Route 895 under construction, taken in late December, 2001.
Above, I'm standing on the VA-5 New Market Road overpass, looking west onto Route 895. The two mainline bridges cross over Cornelius Creek, and the westbound bridge has a spur bridge branching off to Ramp A, the westbound off ramp to the Laburnum Avenue Connection. The overpass bridge is for the Laburnum Avenue Connection. This photo was a bit dark, and for some reason my scanner changed it from color to black-and-white, and after repeated scans still did the same thing. Since this is the first time that enough directional signs are up to show how the highway will be signed, I decided to use this photo. Next month I'll have better photos of directional signs. Route 895 is being signed as a Virginia state route, not as an Interstate route, even though the highway is being built to Interstate standards and forms part of the outer freeway bypass of Richmond. I hope that a future decision will change it to Interstate 895, but it will be up to the Commonwealth Transportation Board to decide that.
The left overhead directional sign says "WEST 895 to 95 150".
Above, I'm standing on the Wilton Road overpass bridge, looking east onto Route 895. The Osborne Turnpike overpass bridge is visible in the distance. Paving work is near completion on this section, with lines painted on the eastbound roadway. Highway sign installation is underway. The roadway transitions are from where the highway widens out to the mainline toll plaza, which is right behind where I am standing. I am standing directly over the two eastbound mainline freeway lanes, and the two lanes merging into one lane is the acceleration roadway from the main toll plaza.
The Wilton Road overpass where I took the previous photo and the next three photos, has 10 foot wide shoulders. Wilton Road is a secondary road with very light traffic, so the shoulders are a safe place to park on while viewing the highway.
Above, I'm standing on the Wilton Road overpass bridge, looking east onto Route 895. This photo was taken from the same vantage point as the previous photo, taken a few minutes later, but with a 135mm (2.7x) telephoto lens instead of the 50mm regular lens used in previous photo.
Above, I'm standing on the Wilton Road overpass bridge, looking west onto Route 895. This photo was taken in the same session as the previous two, from the same overpass bridge, a few minutes later. Paving work is near completion on this section, with lines painted on the eastbound roadway. Highway sign installation is underway. I am standing directly over the two eastbound mainline freeway lanes. The James River Bridge construction is visible in the distance. The toll plazas are visible under construction directly ahead. Installation of toll collection equipment is underway, with vehicle testing of the electronic toll collection (ETC) system. The highway mainline has three lanes in each direction on this section, and the outer lane each way branches from the mainline into the manual and automatic cash toll plazas. The center and inner lanes each way continue as full freeway-standard mainline roadways, and an overhead gantry has the detection equipment for electronic toll collection, and these two lanes each way are to be used only by Smart Tag customers. So Smart Tag customers have a bonifide freeway roadway where they can maintain the full posted speed limit on the highway.
Above, I'm standing on the Wilton Road overpass bridge, looking west onto Route 895. This photo was taken from the same vantage point as the previous photo, taken a few minutes later, but with a 135mm (2.7x) telephoto lens instead of the 50mm regular lens used in previous photo. The east approach embankment fill can be seen, with the James River Bridge construction visible just beyond that.
© Copyright 2002 by Scott Kozel, and all photos taken by same. All rights reserved.
Lead page for Route 895 Construction - December 2001
Lead page for Route 895 Construction
Lead page for Route 895 Connector
By Scott M. Kozel,
Roads to the Future(Created 2-1-2002)