VDOT News - Lynchburg

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Motorists who use US Route 29 North over the Banister River in Pittsylvania County should begin to see work to reduce the number of lanes in the area from two to one in the coming weeks, weather permitting.

Recently an assessment of the bridge identified the need to lower the current load on the structure. Rather than posting new weight limits, VDOT opted to reduce the number of lanes. This will reduce the load by preventing two loaded tractor-trailers from crossing the bridge side by side.

VDOT crews have already started installing and covering necessary signage and will remove the current painted lines and add new ones for the planned traffic pattern as early as next week. Barrels will initially be used for the transition; however, more permanent devices will be installed as soon as possible.

A project to replace the necessary components of the bridge is in development, with an anticipated advertisement for construction in early 2021. Once the project is underway, one lane of northbound traffic and one of southbound traffic will run in the southbound lanes. This will give workers full access to the structure to make the necessary improvements safely and in a timely manner. Once the repairs are complete the bridge will be unposted.

Updates are available as traffic patterns change.

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