Virginia transportation officials have awarded a $14.6 million contract to a Maryland-based company for the creation of an auxiliary lane along southbound Interstate 95 in Woodbridge.

Work is scheduled to start later this spring on the lane running from Virginia Route 123/Gordon Boulevard to the exit ramp for Virginia 294/Prince William Parkway, the Virginia Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

Crews will convert the existing shoulder, creating a new southbound travel lane stretching for about a mile and a half from beginning to end. They will also add a new paved shoulder, build new retaining walls and replace roadway lightning as necessary to accommodate the extra lane.

VDOT expects the project will simplify mergers for drivers between the two ramps, and make additional room for through-drivers. The agency estimated an average of 92,000 vehicles drive this area of southbound I-95 per day.

The multimillion-dollar contract was awarded to Annapolis Junction, Maryland-based Corman Kokosing Construction Co. as part of Virginia’s I-95 Corridor Improvement Plan.

Work is expected to last through fall of 2022, and will mostly occur beyond concrete barriers with few traffic impacts.

Watch a simulation of the new lane below: