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This story was originally published at 5:20 a.m. on May 5. It was updated at 3 p.m. with the updated timeline.
ALEXANDRIA, Va — A weekend road closure tied to Virginia Railway Express bridge work has now been extended for a second time, with the city telling residents Tuesday afternoon that the intersections of King Street, Russell Road and Commonwealth Avenue will remain shut through Wednesday morning.
The latest update was relayed Tuesday by Ursula Ramos, senior communications officer with the City of Alexandria's Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, in an email to Rosemont and Taylor Run neighbors that was forwarded to a community listserv. Ramos said the VRE contractor had informed the city that the closures would now stay in place through the morning of May 6.
It is the second time in less than a day that the reopening has been pushed back. The closures were originally scheduled to lift by 10 p.m. Monday. In an advisory issued at 11:15 p.m. Monday, the city said the contractor needed more time to clear the right-of-way and that the intersections would instead reopen early Tuesday afternoon. By midafternoon Tuesday, that timeline had slipped again.
"We understand that extending these closures into a weekday commute is a significant inconvenience, and we appreciate your continued patience as VRE completes these critical safety improvements," Ramos wrote in Monday night's notice.
Neither the city nor VRE has detailed what specifically has caused the additional delays beyond the contractor's need for more time to clear the work zone. The Alexandria Brief has reached out to VRE for further information.
The work is part of VRE's Alexandria Station and Bridge Improvements Project, which is replacing aging rail bridge spans over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue. VRE has said the upgrades are needed to improve safety, reduce long-term maintenance and bolster service reliability.
Detours remain unchanged. King Street is fully closed between Russell Road and Daingerfield Road, with traffic routed to Duke Street. Sunset Drive remains restricted to local traffic only. Sidewalk closures under the King Street bridge will stay in effect until the roadway is cleared, the city said.
Two more weekend shutdowns remain on the schedule, May 15-18 and May 29-June 1.
Metro service is not affected. Residents can monitor the city's social media channels or the VRE project page for real-time updates. Project-specific questions can be directed to AlexandriaStationImprovements@vre.org.
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