The Prince William County Board of Supervisors approved the final design for the $20 million dollar Minnieville Road improvement project between Spriggs Road and Route 234 in Woodbridge.
The project will expand the section of road from two lanes to four lanes.
According to Thomas Blaser, the Prince William County Director of Transportation, this project will complete the gradual improvements that have taken place along the road for years.
“Minnieville Road – we’ve been at it for ten years. We started on the east side of the county, and this is the last section, between Spriggs Road and [Route] 234,” Blaser said.
In addition to adding two lanes, the project will add a traffic signal at Howison Homestead Park. The addition of the signal came at the urging of residents during a public hearing, as traffic in the area intensifies during the weekends, because of recreational, and sports use at the park, said Blaser.
The project will have a few challenges that will be faced during planning and construction.
“Fortunately a lot of that residential [property] was zoned not too long ago, so they proffered a lot of the right of way – but there’s a couple of challenges. We’ll have a jogging and pedestrian path on one side, and a sidewalk on the other. We do have the creek that we have to cross, so there will be a bridge over it, and we’ll be raising the profile of the road there,” said Blaser.
Additionally, the PWC Department of Transportation had to complete an environmental assessment in the area, because of some industrial use near Route 234.
“There’s this industrial site right at [Route] 234, and apparently back in the day, there was a lot of petroleum and metallic products – it’s not a big deal…we did have to do an environmental assessment, and the results came back very favorably,” Blaser commented.
To deal with this issue, they will dry out and treat the soil in that area, said Blaser.
Now that the board has approved the design, the PWC Department of Transportation will need to buy the right of way, as well as move underground and overhead utilities before construction can begin.
Blaser stated that the project is slated for completion in about two years.
