WASHINGTON – A road improvement project intended to ease traffic on Belmont Ridge Road in Loudoun County got underway on Tuesday afternoon.

A groundbreaking celebrated the start of the work that will widen about 2 miles of Belmont Ridge Road from two lanes to four between Virginia Route 7 and the Dulles Greenway.

The $61 million project, funded by Loudoun County and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, will also remove the dangerous at-grade crossing for walkers and bikers on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.  There will also be new paths on both sides of the road and a parking lot for people using the trail.

The project is scheduled to take about two years.

It will tie into the new interchange being built for Belmont Ridge Road at Route 7.

Separate work planned for an approximately 1-mile stretch of Belmont Ridge Road just south of the Greenway that includes new traffic signals.