Richmond Highway Projects Get Funding In Transportation Authority's 6-Year Plan

MOUNT VERNON, VA — Two Richmond Highway projects in Fairfax County have funding in the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority's latest six-year program, which was approved Thursday.

The Fiscal Years 2022-2027 Six Year Program funds regional multimodal transportation projects in Northern Virginia through regional revenues. The program provides nearly $625 million in funding to 20 projects.

This was the sixth time the authority has updated its six-year plan to prioritize and fund regional transportation projects. For the latest plan update, nine localities in Northern Virginia submitted 26 proposed projects totaling over $1.2 billion. Committees recommended 20 of these projects for the 2022-2027 six-year funding plan, and over 1,600 public comments were received from April 15 to May 22. The six-year program is updated every two years.

"Most people when they're driving, they don't know when they leave when they're leaving Loudoun County and driving into the Fairfax County or leaving Arlington and driving into Alexandria," said Phyllis Randall, chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. "That's why the authority is so important to do multimodal transportation options and focus on congestion relief built up to cost in the Northern Virginia area, because the Northern Virginia area is such an important part of the Commonwealth."

Among the larger projects included in the plan are the Richmond Highway widening and Bus Rapid Transit projects. The Richmond Highway widening between Mount Vernon Memorial Highway/Jeff Todd Way and Sherwood Hall Lane received $60,207,038. That funding had been requested for the preliminary engineering and design, right-of-way acquisition and construction phases of the project. The widening project had also received $127 million in funding in the authority's Fiscal Years 2018-2023 Six Year Program.

The Bus Rapid Transit project on Richmond Highway received $80 million in the six-year plan for preliminary engineering and design, right-of-way acquisition and construction phases. That brings the authority's total funding for the project to $330 million, as it received $250 million in the Fiscal Years 2018-2023 Six Year Program. It is also the project that has received the most Northern Virginia Transportation Authority revenues to date.

"The Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit project will be the largest bus rapid transit project in Virginia, not only Northern Virginia," said Monica Backmon, CEO of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

The cost estimate for the Bus Rapid Transit project is $730 million, while the widening project's estimated cost is $415 million. The widening project could begin as soon as 2025 depending on funding and be completed in four years. The Bus Rapid Transit's timeline isn't finalized either, but the latest timeline calls for one segment to be completed from 2026 to 2030 and the second from 2028 to 2030.

While the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority's main goal in prioritizing projects is addressing traffic congestion, part of that strategy is through funding multimodal projects. The six-year plan includes funding for transit, bike and pedestrian, and transportation technology projects, while most roadway projects also have a pedestrian and bicyclist component.

"We have rail, we have buses, we have roads, we have bike paths, we have bus rapid transit projects, because as I always say in Northern Virginia, there is no one-size-fits-all solution," said Backmon. "There is no single mode that really taps into our congestion issues."

Through its latest six-year plan and five previous ones, the authority is helping Northern Virginia localities advance 122 regional multimodal transportation projects, totaling nearly $3.12 billion, for congestion reduction throughout the region.

The 20 projects included in the six-year plan are:

• Arlington County: Ballston-MU Metrorail Station West Entrance: $80,000,000
• Fairfax County: Fairfax County Parkway Widening: Nomes Court to Route 123: $108,000,000
• Fairfax County: 8 New Battery Electric Buses - Fairfax Connector Buses for Tysons to Franconia Service: $10,000,000
• Fairfax County: Richmond Highway Widening From Mt. Vernon Memorial Highway/Jeff Todd Way to Sherwood Hall Lane: $60,207,038
• Fairfax County: Richmond Highway (Route 1) BRT: $80,000,000
• Fairfax County: Soapstone Drive Extension: Sunset Hills Road to Sunrise Valley Drive: $73,793,037
• Fairfax County: Seven Corners Ring Road Improvements: Arlington Boulevard (Route 50)Westbound Ramp to Castle Place/Sleepy Hollow Road: $4,200,000 (request partially funded)
• Loudoun County: Route 7 Corridor ITS Implementation Program: $2,500,000
• Loudoun County: Route 7 Improvements: Route 9 to Dulles Greenway: $20,000,000
• Loudoun County: Ryan Road Widening (Phase 2): Evergreen Mills Road to Beaverdam Drive: $16,000,000
• Loudoun County: Loudoun County Parkway Interchange at US 50: $35,250,000
• Prince William County: University Boulevard Extension: Devlin Road to Wellington Road: $53,000,000
• Prince William County: Old Bridge Road Widening: Colby Drive to Minnieville Road: $25,000,000
• Prince William County: Van Buren Road North Extension: Route 234 to Cardinal Drive: $8,000,000 (request partially funded)
• Prince William County: Route 1 at Route 123 Interchange: $3,000,000 (request partially funded)
• City of Alexandria: West End Transitway Phase 1b: South Van Dorn Street and Bridge Design: $5,000,000
• City of Alexandria: Alexandria Bike and Pedestrian Trails Construction and Reconstruction: Holmes Run Trail - Dora Kelly Fair-weather Crossing Bridge: $5,000,000
• City of Falls Church: North Washington Street Multimodal Improvements Project: Great FallsStreet to Gresham Place: $22,500,000
• City of Manassas: Liberia Avenue 3rd Lane Eastbound: Route 28 to Euclid Avenue: $8,851,639
• Town of Herndon: Herndon Parkway Improvements at Worldgate Drive Extension: $4,581,000