Richmond Highway Widening Among NVTA-Funded Projects

MOUNT VERNON, VA — Fairfax County's Richmond Highway widening project will receive funding from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) as part of its six-year, fiscal year 2020-2025 program. On Thursday, the NVTA approved 21 of 41 projects requested by 13 Northern Virginia localities and agencies.

Despite an estimated $240 million net revenue loss for the six-year program during the pandemic, the authority provided $539 million in funding for the 21 projects. There were 17 fully-funded projects, which have sufficient funds to advance to construction. The Richmond Highway widening and remaining projects are partially funded, meaning they can advance to early phases of project development but not necessarily completion.

Localities with approved projects include Arlington County, City of Alexandria, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, and Town of Dumfries. Projects were also approved for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, NOVA Parks, and Virginia Railway Express.

"The adoption of the Six Year Program Update demonstrates an ongoing commitment to a multimodal approach that addresses Northern Virginians’ mobility needs and challenges, and supports the region’s economic vitality, while providing an economic stimulus to the region’s economy," said Phyllis Randall, chair of the authority and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

The authority's main purposes is to update Northern Virginia's long-range transportation plan, as well as prioritize and fund transportation projects to provide congestion relief. In 2013, a Virginia law established dedicated funding for Northern Virginia transportation projects for the authority to carry out its work. Membership is made up of nine Northern Virginia localities: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park.

See the full list of 21 approved projects funded by the authority and project descriptions.

NVTA funding for the Richmond Highway project will include widening of a 3.1 section between Mount Vernon Memorial Highway/Jeff Todd Way and Sherwood Hall Lane in Mount Vernon. The number of travel lanes along Richmond Highway will increase from four to six. There will also be a median area reserved for the future Bus Rapid Transit, intersection improvements, replacement of two bridges, secure pedestrian crossings, off-road bicycle paths and six-foot wide sidewalks on both sides of the highway.

According to the project milestone timeline, right-of-way acquisition is happening through fiscal year 2024, and construction would happen from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2027.

The Bus Rapid Transit project was submitted for consideration but was not among the 21 projects receiving new NVTA funding. The project previously received $250 million from the NVTA and $111 million in other funding, according to the application. The Bus Rapid Transit, in the early design phases, will run from the Huntington Metro to Richmond Highway via North Kings Highway.

The authority put out a call for regional transportation projects in July 2019. Over 41 projects were reviewed, and around 1,000 public comments have come in during the process. According to the authority's executive director Monica Backmon, 85 percent of comments were focused on four approved projects: the two Falls Church projects, Arlington W&OD Trail Enhancements, and Prince William County's Van Buren Road North Extension: Route 234 to Cardinal Drive. Backmon noted the majority of public comments on the Falls Church projects were supportive.

With the new funding program and four previous programs, the authority is advancing 106 regional transportation projects. The projects, totaling almost $2.5 billion, are aimed at reducing congestion in the region.