Richmond Highway projects top county’s funding request to NVTA

A drawing of Richmond Highway with dedicated BRT lanes down the middle of the road. (Fairfax County image)

Two transportation projects that are key to the Embark Richmond Highway initiative topped the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ list of funding priorities that was recently sent to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. 

The highest priority on the 15-item list was given to the Richmond Highway widening project between Napper Road and Mount Vernon Memorial Highway/Jeff Todd Way. Coming in second was a $250M request towards bus rapid transit (BRT) between the Huntington Metro station and Fort Belvoir.

The widening project, which is still in its early stages but will eventually widen the last four-lane stretch of the road between the Beltway and Lorton, will cost approximately $215 million. The project is designed so that BRT lanes can eventually be added in the median.

BRT is one of the cornerstones of Embark, with stations envisioned to be built in the six community business centers (CBCs) that will feature higher density, mixed-use developments.

The board approved the NVTA list at their Dec. 5 meeting. The request, as well as requests from various Northern Virginia jurisdictions, will be evaluated and scored by the NVTA over the next few months. In April, the NVTA will release its draft of the FY2018-23 Six Year Program, and an open house and public hearing will be held the next month. The final Six Year Program will then be adopted in June. 

In last week’s Mount Vernon Gazette, Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay said the request showed Fairfax County’s commitment to improving transportation in the Richmond Highway area.

“While there has been misinformation floating around in the last few months that Fairfax County is less committed to Route 1, that is simply not true,” McKay wrote. “Projects in Mount Vernon and Lee make up 43.8 percent of the list of projects that we have requested NVTA funding for, nearly half of all countywide requested funds.”

The full list of projects on the county’s NVTA request:

1. Richmond Highway Widening (Mount Vernon Memorial Highway to Napper Road) – $127M
2. Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT, Huntington Metrorail Station to Fort Belvoir) – $250M
3. Soapstone Drive Extension (DTR Overpass) – $157M
4. Frontier Drive Extension – $79.5M
5. Route 28 Widening (Prince William County Line to Old Centreville Road) – $39.3M
6. Braddock Road Improvements (Burke Lake to I-495) – $52.4M
7. Richmond Highway CSX Underpass – $12M
8. Seven Corners Ring Road (Phase 1A/Segment 1A) – $12.4M
9. Rolling Road Widening (Old Keene Mill Road to Fairfax County Parkway) – $17M
10. Route 29 Widening Phase II (Union Mill Road to Buckleys Gate Drive) – $7.6M
11. Fairfax County Parkway Widening (Ox Road to Lee Highway), and Fairfax County Parkway/Popes Head Road Interchange Improvement 
12. Rock Hill Road Extension (DTR Overpass) – $170M
13. Town Center Parkway Extension (DTR Underpass) – $17M
14. Route 28 Widening (Northbound, Route 50 to McLearen Road) – $19M
15. Shirley Gate Road Extension – $42M