Gainesville VDOT office keeps project local

The Virginia Department of Transportation office that sits on Linton Hall Road across from the entrance to the Virginia Gateway shopping center provides office space for professionals who are working on the U.S. 29-Linton Hall-Gallerher road interchange.

Ken Connors, construction manager at the site, said the field office is designed specifically for the large project, which is expected to be complete in June 2015, if all goes well. Connors said office staffers “pretty much administer the entire contract out of this office.”

Currently, about 10 people are working in the office, including one or two who use the space to focus on a smaller project, but Connors expects the project to ramp up this winter. Once all the detour roads are in place (which he noted are not actually detours, just new roads beside the existing ones), workers will be able to really dig in.

The day-to-day operations he manages help keep the project moving forward. He said a lot of the issues to date have been to work through unexpected issues, such as utilities popping up and the like. Plus, he said it’s his job to make sure the contractor completes the job in a quality manner and by following the proper procedures. He’s been working in the building since May.

Once workers are up off the ground, building, Connors said he expects fewer issues with the $267 million project.

Read the full story in the Oct. 14 issue of the Bull Run Observer.