95 Express Lanes

The 95 Express Lanes will extend and add capacity to the HOV lanes on I-95 to create a 29-mile HOV/Express lanes network from the Edsall Road area in Fairfax County to Garrisonville Road in Stafford County. The project will also add new access points and connect directly to the new 495 Express Lanes (opening late 2012).

The partnership agreement between VDOT and Transurban-Fluor will be in place for 76 years. VDOT will own and oversee all aspects of the 95 Express Lanes.

The 95 Express Lanes will extend two miles inside the Beltway to just north of Edsall road.  From that point north, the HOV lanes will remain HOV-3+ only just as they are today. 

Concurrently, VDOT is advancing plans to construct a new ramp at I-395 and Seminary Road for the Mark Center. The ramp will be open for HOV and transit use only.

The 95 Express Lanes project will create approximately 29 miles of HOV/Express lanes on I-95 from Garrisonville Road in Stafford County to the Edsall Road area on I-395 in Fairfax County and include:

• Constructing two new reversible HOV/Express lanes for nine miles from Route 610/Garrisonville Road in Stafford County to Route 234 in Dumfries to where the existing HOV lanes begin
• Widening the existing HOV lanes from two lanes to three lanes for 14 miles from the Prince William Parkway to the Springfield Interchange
• Making improvements to the existing two HOV lanes for six miles from Route 234 to the Prince William Parkway and for two miles from the Springfield Interchange to Edsall Road
• Adding new or improved access points in the areas of Garrisonville Road, Joplin Road, Prince William Parkway, Fairfax County Parkway, Franconia-Springfield Parkway, I-495 and the vicinity of Edsall Road

Alongside the 95 Express Lanes, VDOT is delivering new commuter lots, expanding existing lots and improving access at a number of Park and Rides located in the I-95 corridor.

• By 2015, there will be an additional 600 spaces at the Saratoga/EPG Park and Ride lot in Fairfax County and 700 spaces at the Telegraph Road -Old PRTC bus garage Park and Ride lot in Prince William County.  There is also expected to be a new 1,000-space garage constructed along with the new Potomac Nationals Stadium at Stonebridge in Prince William County.  
• By 2020 there will be an additional 1,000 spaces at Staffordboro Blvd. and 1,000 spaces will be added in Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County at Gordon Blvd.
• Beyond 2020, VDOT plans to add thousands of new parking ride spaces in Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County and Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County along the I-95 corridor.

No, but to help address the transportation needs of the growing Mark Center, VDOT will construct a new HOV/transit ramp at I-395 and Seminary Road for the Mark Center. The ramp will be open to HOV and transit only

High occupancy vehicles (HOV-3+) such as carpools, vans and buses will have toll-free access to the 95 Express Lanes. Motorcycles and emergency vehicles can also travel for toll-free. If you have fewer than three people in your car, you will pay a toll to use the lanes.

Yes. High occupancy vehicles (HOV-3+) will have toll-free access to the Express Lanes at all times.

Unlike the existing HOV lanes, the new 95 Express Lanes will be in effect at all times including weekends. High occupancy vehicles (HOV-3+), motorcycles and transit will have toll-free access at all times; drivers with fewer than three occupants can choose to pay a toll to use the lanes on occasions when they need to get somewhere on time.

You can access the 95 Express Lanes at one of 12 entry/exit points including: the Edsall Road area, 495 Express Lanes/Springfield Interchange, Engineering Proving Grounds, Franconia Springfield, Newington, Boudinot Drive /Fairfax County Parkway, Route 1 at Occoquan, Gordon Boulevard, Prince William County Parkway, Opitz Boulevard, Cardinal Drive and Garrisonville Road.  Learn more about accessing the lanes.

Tolls for the Express Lanes will by dynamic meaning they will change periodically based on real-time traffic conditions to keep the lanes free-flowing. Most toll-paying customers are expected to pay to use the 95 Express Lanes only a couple of times a week when they need a faster trip, with a typical trip during rush hour costing between $5 and $7. HOV-3+, vanpools, motorcycles and buses travel toll-free at all times.

You must pay tolls with an E-ZPass. There will be no toll booths or options to pay cash on the Express Lanes.  Learn more about using the lanes.

We will tell the difference between HOV and toll-paying customers by reading the E-ZPass in the vehicle and working with state police to enforce the HOV rules.

All travelers on the Express Lanes will need to have an E-ZPass or a new E-ZPass Flex. The E-ZPass Flex will work like a regular E-ZPass, but will let you switch between HOV and toll-paying modes. If your E-ZPass Flex is switched to HOV mode and you have three or more passengers in the car, you will not be charged a toll. If your E-ZPass Flex is switched to toll mode, it will be used to pay the toll on the HOT lanes. This switchable E-ZPass will pay tolls on any other road that accepts E-ZPass, regardless of the position of the switch.

State Troopers – funded by the project – will be stationed alongside to make sure those travelers who have switched to carpool mode have three people in the car.

Combined, these changes will substantially decrease violation rates from what we see on the existing HOV lanes today, where about one-in-three drivers are cheating during the restricted periods.

Yes, all users must have an E-ZPass to travel in the 95 Express Lanes when they open in late 2014. Carpoolers are not required to have an E-ZPass during construction, but carpoolers and vanpools will need to get a new E-ZPass Flex when the lanes open. This switchable E-ZPass® will let us know you are a carpooler so that you won’t be charged a toll.

Carpoolers can use the E-ZPass for free travel on the Express Lanes and they can also use it just like a regular E-ZPass to pay tolls on other toll roads, like the Dulles Toll Road or Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. 

By requiring users to have an E-ZPass, the 95 Express Lanes will be able to keep violators out of the lanes. Today, more than one-in-four vehicles in the I-95 HOV lanes are violators.

Toll-paying customers will have access to the 95 Express Lanes until the Edsall Road area. Beyond this point, the Lanes will be restricted to carpools, transit, motorcycles and designated hybrids. Carpools and transit heading north on the 95 Express Lanes will be able to continue on to I-395 as they do today. Toll-paying customers heading north on the 95 Express Lanes will have the option to travel directly onto the 495 Express Lanes toward Tysons Corner or re-enter the regular lanes on I-395 in the area of Edsall Road.

Yes. Motorcycles will be permitted to use the lanes free of charge and do not need an E-ZPass.

If you already have an E-ZPass on your motorcycle, you can leave it on your motorcycle when you travel the 95 Express Lanes. The system will detect that you're traveling via motorcycle and not charge you a toll.

People won’t pay to use the 95 Express Lanes unless they are going to get a faster and more reliable trip, so the private operator has an incentive to keep traffic moving. As an added protection for carpools and transit, the partnerships agreement goes beyond federal mandates to require average speeds of at least 55 mph in the 95 Express Lanes.

Per Virginia law, hybrid drivers will not travel toll-free in the Express Lanes unless they have the three or more people in the vehicle and an E-ZPass Flex set to HOV mode. If a hybrid or clean fuel plate driver meets the HOV-3+ requirement, then he or she may travel in the lanes toll-free. Otherwise, the driver may choose to pay a toll to access the lanes.

No.  The 95 Express Lanes will extend two miles inside the Beltway to just north of Edsall Road.  From that point north, the HOV lanes will remain HOV-3+ just as they are today and carpools and transit heading north on the 95 Express Lanes will be able to continue on to I-395.  Toll-paying customers heading north on the 95 Express Lanes will have the option to travel directly onto the 495 Express Lanes toward Tysons Corner or re-enter the regular lanes on I-495 in the area of Edsall Road.

Only travelers wishing to travel on the 95 Express Lanes which start in Garrisonville Road in Stafford and end two miles south of Edsall Road will need an E-ZPass.

Construction is expected to begin in the summer 2012 construction season and will take about three years to complete.

The total project cost is approximately $925 million, with VDOT funding approximately $71 million and the private sector responsible for $854 million.

Construction will begin in summer 2012. A robust public information program will be in place to ensure residents and travels are informed.

We encourage all travelers to visit vamegaprojects.com for the latest information.

Yes, the 95 Express Lanes include the construction of more than 60,000 linear feet of new soundwalls across Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford Counties.

At this time, VDOT anticipates that the project will be constructed entirely on existing VDOT right of way.

The project has been developed through nearly a decade of public input and review. Most recently, VDOT hosted formal citizen information meetings and public hearings all along the corridor in September 2011. Additional comments on the project are always welcome at info@95expresslanes.com.

There are no plans to extend the 95 Express Lanes north at this time. The HOV lanes north of Edsall Road will remain HOV-3+ only, just as they are today.

Consistent with regional transportation plans, VDOT anticipates that construction on 95 Express Lanes south of Garrisonsville Road and into Spotsylvania County could begin as early as 2015.