FREDERICKSBURG – The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its contractor will begin to mobilize Monday, May 18 on a project to replace the Route 17 northbound bridge over Dragon Run at the Gloucester County and Middlesex County line.
The $14.6 million project will replace the existing bridge on Route 17 northbound. The new bridge will be wider, taller, and longer than the existing bridge, which was built in 1931.
Route 17 northbound will remain reduced to a single lane at the bridge over Dragon Run while crews begin to construct crossovers for the traffic diversion planned in summer 2026. Work zone barriers will continue to separate the left and right lanes of Route 17 northbound. The right lane closed in December 2025 after a vehicle crash damaged the bridge rail and guardrail.
Crews will close the Route 17 northbound bridge this summer and it will remain closed until project completion in Dec. 2027, weather permitting.
During construction, Route 17 northbound and southbound will both be reduced to a single lane at Dragon Run. Northbound and southbound traffic will use the southbound bridge to cross Dragon Run while the new northbound bridge is being built. One lane of Route 17 will always remain open in each direction.
An average of 12,000 vehicles a day travel on Route 17 in this area, according to a 2024 VDOT traffic count.
The project contractor is Kokosing Construction Company, Inc.
