Stimulus money funds widening of Route 3

FREDERICKSBURG — About five miles of Route 3 in Spotsylvania County will be widened using federal stimulus money.

Gov. Tim Kaine on Wednesday helped break ground on the project, which will be paid for with $25.2 million in funding for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“This is a great example of the type of job the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was intended to move forward, and it would not have been possible without the support of the President and Congress,” Kaine said. “This project will put people to work, and it will pay benefits to the region and to commuters for years to come.”

The Route 3 widening project has long been planned, but the Commonwealth Transportation Board was forced to cancel it because of reductions in traditional sources of state revenue.

Spotsylvania County will oversee the project, which will add 10.3 new lane miles on Route 3 from Gordon Road to Rutherford Drive. The project is expected to eliminate a bottleneck by widening the four-lane section of highway to six lanes. Route 3 on either side of this section has six lanes.

Design work is expected to begin within weeks. Construction is expected to start in April 2010 and be completed by the summer of 2012.