I-66 ramp fix delayed again

Bad weather has again delayed plans to ease congestion where the I-66 eastbound ramps take traffic onto the Capital Beltway's inner loop.

Because of the wet pavement and the low temperatures, workers can't re-stripe and modify the merge. The work, which would have taken several nights to complete, is now scheduled for next week, the Virginia Department of Transportation said.

Last fall, the already congested area got worse when the ramp pattern was changed to accommodate construction of the High Occupancy Toll lanes along the Beltway. VDOT saw the problem where the HOV exit and the regular traffic exit come together, but a first fix didn't do enough to ease the traffic.

The new fix will put the ramps back in their original configuration. The work was delayed several times by the February weather.