I-95 EXIT 126 OFF-RAMP

In one of the region’s most heavily traveled corridors, the Exit 126 area in Spotsylvania County in Virginia, just south of Fredericksburg, required critical safety and capacity upgrades. Improvements were designed to ease congestion at key turning movements and reduce crash risk where high volumes of ramp traffic intersect with busy signals and commercial access points.

CHALLENGE

Traffic routinely queued on the southbound I-95 off-ramp, creating spillback risk. Downstream, Route 1 and Southpoint Parkway had multiple conflict points—especially left turns in and out of commercial entrances—where accidents, many severe, occurred regularly. Due to increased traffic in the area, the corridor needed additional off-ramp capacity, more efficient turning movements, and access changes that reduced risk without disrupting the businesses along the route.

SOLUTION

Improvements focused on adding capacity where queues form and simplifying the most dangerous movements:
The project improved traffic flow and safety at the I-95 southbound Exit 126 interchange by widening the off-ramp to queue more vehicles, adding a second free-flow right-turn lane, and widening southbound Route 1 to handle turning traffic. On Route 1, the team built dual right-turn lanes onto Southpoint Parkway and expanded capacity with three southbound through lanes and dual left turns at Southpoint I.

Along Southpoint Parkway (Route 711), targeted safety upgrades included new striping and signage, an additional right-turn lane, and concrete medians that reduced conflict points and restricted unsafe movements. Together, these changes reduce conflict points—particularly left turns that can lead to angle crashes—while improving traffic flow through one of the corridor’s busiest interchange areas.