Mark Center Improvements

The Mark Center project was the BRAC-identified location for the Washington Headquarters Service relocation, as well as a number of other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, and is currently considered to be part of Fort Belvoir. The Mark Center brought nearly 6,400 new jobs to Alexandria, VA with full completion and deployment of personnel. Short- and mid-term improvements were needed to address complex issues caused by the increase in traffic.

This $9.1 million design-build project was administered by the FHWA-EFLHD in collaboration with VDOT, DoD, and the City of Alexandria. The infrastructure improvements associated with the Mark Center Complex are at the intersections of Mark Center Avenue with Seminary Road and N. Beauregard Street; adjacent to the Seminary Road Interchange with I-395. Work included these context sensitive solutions:

Seminary Road & I-395S Off-Ramp: Widened Seminary Road westbound approach from one to two lanes.
Seminary Road Turn Lane: Widened Seminary Road to provide a dedicated right turn lane from westbound Seminary Road to Southern Towers.
Seminary Road/North Beauregard Street Intersection: Widened westbound Seminary Road to provide a deceleration lane and widened northbound Beauregard Street to provide an acceleration lane.
Seminary Road/Mark Center Avenue Intersection: Widened eastbound Seminary Road approach to Mark Center Avenue to allow three through lanes. Widened northbound Mark Center Avenue approach to four lanes.
N. Beauregard Street Turn Lane: Widened northbound Beauregard Street between Mark Center Avenue and Seminary Road to provide a dedicated right turn lane.
I-395S On-Ramp: Widened eastbound Seminary Road and southbound I-395S on-ramp to provide a continuous two-lane ramp from Seminary Road to the ramp meter.

The team offered time and cost saving ideas to EFLHD and VDOT. Some of these elements included:

Leveraged experience working in locations with similar or higher ADTs
Detailed schedule that included innovative design enhancements
Long-standing, quality relationships with project stakeholders and a proven commitment to partnering
In-depth experienced with EFLHD, VDOT, DoD, and the City of Alexandria’s design standards, specifications, and details
Completed this project ahead of schedule and reduced impact to drivers