A larger-than-usual volume of traffic in the last month has begun to interrupt the morning commute on Richmond Highway from the south, making northbound travel a real chore on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Fort Belvoir, Virginia Department of Transportation and Fairfax County officials are working together to find the cause of the problem.

On Feb. 28, traffic was backed up on U.S. 1 from Tulley Gate all the way to Lorton. Officials quickly came together to assess the situation and find a solution.

“VDOT told us that there are so many vehicles coming north through that narrow part of Route 1, virtually anything could slow it up,” said John Cerra, Law Enforcement Division chief on Fort Belvoir. “Just a couple minutes of backup has huge ramifications

because of the volume of vehicles on that road.”

“The combination of people [exiting] I-[Interstate]95 and a backup getting onto Fort Belvoir could have contributed to the heavy traffic, as well,” said VDOT spokesman Mike Salmon, acknowledging that northbound drivers on I-95 will often bail from there to Richmond Highway when VDOT or traffic reporters relay information about problems on the interstate or the beltway.

Salmon said that on the morning of Feb. 28, there was an accident at 5:45 a.m. on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway that blocked three lanes of traffic near Interstate 66. Then, between 7 and 7:30 a.m., a truck broke down on the inner loop at Gallows Road. Around 10 a.m., a vehicle caught fire on the inner loop near Braddock Road.

“Most likely our digital signs on I-95 mentioned these incidents and people began exiting to get to Route 1,” Salmon said. “That would have lead to a higher volume of cars on U.S. 1 that morning.” At one point, drivers reported, the backup extended to Richmond Highway’s intersection with Gunston Cove Road just north of the I-95 interchange.

Closer to Fort Belvoir, when traffic backs up at the intersection of Tulley Gate and U.S. 1, many blame Tulley Gate and its security operations for the problem.

“As I was traveling up Route 1 between 7:30 and 8 a.m., I noticed the right lane coming into Tulley Gate was backing up traffic,” Assistant Commander of Mount Vernon Station David Russell said. “I have noticed this has become a recurring problem over the last month or so.”

“It was pretty obvious that the volume of traffic coming on base was the major issue that morning,” Mount Vernon District Commander Mike Kline said.

After concluding Tulley Gate may not be the only issue, Fort Belvoir officials said they have observed the light at Pohick Road and U.S. 1 and noticed it could be a contributing factor. “We have witnessed the light switching from red to green rather quickly when traffic becomes jammed,” Cerra said.

Salmon said VDOT came out the next day and surveyed the lights at the intersections of Pohick and U.S. 1, and the parkway and U.S. 1, and found no problems with the timing of the lights.

According to Fort Belvoir traffic data, February saw an average of 551 vehicles searched and logged daily at Tulley Gate. On Feb. 28, a total of 528 vehicles were searched. Only 273 of those vehicles were searched and logged

between 5 and 10:40 a.m.

According to Cerra, traffic on U.S. 1 was heavy before traffic became heavy at the gate. “As early as 7 a.m., traffic was heavy on Route 1 and clear at Tulley Gate,” he said.

Until a definitive cause of the delays can be identified, officials from VDOT, Fort Belvoir and Fairfax County continue to work together to resolve the problem.

VDOT is observing the lights in that area during peak traffic hours in the morning, Cerra said. Fairfax County is monitoring traffic south of the intersection to see if something in that area is triggering the gridlock.

Fort Belvoir is examining traffic at the gate, watching vehicle counts and placing more personnel at the vehicle access point on Pohick Road to try and ease the problem.

Andrew Sharbel is a staff writer at the Fort Belvoir Eagle.

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