Virtual Meetings Planned On Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit

HYBLA VALLEY, VA — The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is planning virtual community meetings with an update on the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit project. There will be two meetings each in October, November and December.

The project involves the planning, designing and construction of Bus Rapid stations along Richmond Highway (Route 1) between the Huntington Metro and Fort Belvoir. The county's aim for the BRT system is to increase transit ridership along the Route 1 corridor with a long-term goal of a Metrorail extension to Hybla Valley. A separate project in design by the Virginia Department of Transportation is focused on widening Richmond Highway from four to six lanes between Sherwood Hall Lane and Jeff Todd Way.

The upcoming community meetings will focus on different components of the project. The Oct. 20 meeting will focus on right-of-way acquisition. The transportation department has provided updated maps for the planned BRT stations: Fort Belvoir Station and Woodlawn Station; South County Station; Gum Springs Station and Hybla Valley Station; Lockheed Station and Beacon Hill Station; and Penn Daw Station and Huntington Station. A meeting on right-of-way acquisition in Spanish will be held on Oct. 22.

Below is the meeting schedule. Links to register are available for the October meetings.

• Oct. 20, 7 p.m. (English): right-of-way acquisition
• Oct. 22, 7 p.m. (Spanish): right-of-way acquisition
• Nov. 4, 7 p.m. (English): station design
• Nov. 5, 7 p.m. (Spanish): station design
• Dec. 8, 7 p.m. (English): BRT branding
• Dec. 9, 7 p.m. (Spanish): BRT branding

The recommendation for a BRT system resulted from a 2013 and 2014 study of a 16-mile segment of Route 1 the Beltway to Woodbridge from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) study. The collective program for implementing the study recommendations is called Embark Richmond Highway. This program includes the BRT system, as well as land use and roadway changes.

The project timeline calls for preliminary development and design through 2023, right-of-way acquisition from 2021 through part of 2025, utility coordination and construction from late 2021 to 2027 and construction from late 2025 to 2030. However, timeframes may change depending on the availability of funding. About $360 million in funding of the estimated $730 million total cost has been secured.

For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/transportation/richmond-hwy-brt.