VDOT News - Fredericksburg

July 7, 2023 UPDATE: This detour has been postponed from Monday, July 10, to begin on Monday, July 17-Tuesday, July 18. Read the news release. 

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Route 636 (Hood Drive) in Spotsylvania County will be limited to one-way traffic starting Monday, July 10, and will remain one-way through June 2024.

The road is being partially closed to provide space for crews to widen the road and add turn lanes at several intersections.

Southbound Hood Drive traffic traveling from Route 208 (Courthouse Road) to Route 1 will be closed to through traffic. Traffic will be detoured to use eastbound Courthouse Road and southbound Route 1. The detour length is around 1.8 miles and will add an estimated 5 minutes of driving time.

View an online map of the detour here.

Northbound Hood Drive, for traffic traveling from Route 1 to Courthouse Road, will remain open.

Southbound Hood Drive access will be maintained for residents and businesses located on Hood Drive, McGowan Drive and Wilcox Street, and traffic to these destinations.

Message boards will be posted to notify travelers of the upcoming partial Hood Drive closure. Signs will guide motorists along the detour route.

Two projects are under construction on Hood Drive through July 2024: a $5.9 million SMART SCALE-funded project at the intersection of Courthouse Road and Hood Drive, and a $6 million improvement funded by Spotsylvania County.

The Spotsylvania-funded project will add new right and left turn lanes on Hood Drive at access points to a U.S. Veterans Health Administration outpatient clinic under construction.

As part of the SMART SCALE project, additional turn lanes will be built on northbound Hood Drive approaching Courthouse Road. A raised median on Hood Drive will separate northbound and southbound traffic. Additional sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian crossing equipment will be installed along a portion of Hood Drive and at the Courthouse Road intersection.

With limited space to accommodate additional traffic in the left turn lane from northbound Route 1 to westbound Courthouse Road, the southbound lane of Hood Drive was selected to be detoured to minimize congestion and driver delay in the Four Mile Fork area of Spotsylvania.

According to a recent VDOT traffic count, approximately 11,000 vehicles a day travel on Hood Drive.

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VDOT’s 14-county Fredericksburg District includes the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford in the Fredericksburg area; Northumberland, Richmond, Lancaster and Westmoreland counties in the Northern Neck; Essex, Gloucester, King & Queen, King William, Mathews and Middlesex counties in the Middle Peninsula.

Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.