VDOT Posts RFQ, Timeline for Diverging Diamond at I-64/Ashland Road

VDOT’s Richmond District has posted request for qualifications C00123919DB141 for major work at the I‑64 and Rt. 623 (Ashland Road) interchange in Goochland County, naming the project an Alternative Project Delivery design‑build procurement and setting an RFQ submission deadline of September 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM. The project page was last updated October 2, 2025 and the RFQ package scheduled a Project Information Meeting for July 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM with access details contained in the RFQ.

The RFQ lists an extensive scope of work and uses explicit language that project teams should note: VDOT seeks to “convert the existing interchange into a four‑lane diverging diamond interchange,” and the improvements include “widening Ashland Road, new bridge construction, rehabilitation of the existing bridge, widening and reconstruction of four ramps, drainage, stormwater management, traffic signals and lighting.” The RFQ also warns the project “will also involve a change and/or break in limited access control.”

Local sources and planning datasets add details and raise technical conflicts. Goochland County’s project page confirms the planned relocation and upgrade of the Hickory Haven Park and Ride, saying “The Hickory Haven Park and Ride lot will be moved and upgraded to accommodate the new interchange design” and that “The size of the Park and Ride will be doubled and will include lighting, a potential bus stop and road access.” A local blog, Goochlandomm, reported the park‑and‑ride will move to the west side of Ashland Road just south of I‑64 and said engineers on July 22 characterized the new lot as larger than the current one.

Yet planning listings describe the interchange differently. Cvtava’s project entry states “Proposed project would reconstruct the existing diamond interchange to a single‑lane Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI)” and adds that “This configuration does not impact the existing bridge over I‑64” and that “No right‑of‑way impacts are expected.” Those single‑lane and no‑bridge‑impact descriptions conflict directly with the RFQ’s “four‑lane DDI” and its listing of new bridge construction and bridge rehabilitation.

Procurement timing and schedule expectations diverge as well. VDOT’s RFQ established the July 22, 2025 meeting and the September 5, 2025 RFQ deadline on a project page updated October 2, 2025. The Goochlandomm blog projected a later procurement sequence, saying “A design build contract will be awarded in the fall of 2026 with completion expected by summer 2029,” a timeline presented as the blog’s projection rather than an RFQ schedule item.

Regional program data show continued I‑64 investment alongside the Ashland Road work. PlanRVA/VDOT listings include SMART24 I‑64 GAP WIDENING SEGMENT B with a total cost listed as $242,323,836 (UPC 127838) and SMART26 I64 EXIT 211 INTERCHANGE IMPROVEMENT at $94,000,000, underscoring concurrent projects on I‑64 in the region that will affect corridor capacity and funding priorities.

Key technical questions remain publicly unresolved in the materials: whether the DDI will be built as a single‑lane or four‑lane configuration, whether the existing I‑64 bridge will be replaced or rehabilitated, and whether right‑of‑way or signal warrants will be required for the relocated Bennington Road/Ashland Road connection and the new Hickory Haven access. VDOT’s RFQ is the contracting authority’s definitive procurement document on file; the conflicting planning and local reports indicate those technical details will be central to the next phase of design and community review.