Should Godwin Drive be linked with Interstate 66? That’s the question a new $2.5 million study will examine.
Transportation planners from Prince William County and Manassas City will study the “Flat Branch” corridor between where Godwin Drive intersects with Sudley Road just outside Manassas, near Novant Prince William Medical Center.
The route is the same route as the “Tri-County Parkway” would have taken had it been built 10 years ago. The idea — free up some of the congestion that chokes Route 28 that runs parallel to the would-be road.
There are a large number of homes that lie in the path of a Godwin Drive extension, as well as Flat Branch, a creek that has a substantial floodplain around it.
“When it rains it becomes a major floodplain, so I’m not sure the Army Corps of Engineers would be happy if we simply went right through there and built a road,” said Rick Canizales, with the Prince William County Transportation Office.
The study is expected to take 18 months and look at two things: The alignment of the roadway (which route it would take if built) and the impacts of those ailments, such as how many properties would be needed if the road is extended.
The study will determine where the new road would link up with existing Route 28. Some models show the road linking to the artery while other models show a new road linking directly to I-66, or Old Centreville Road that runs parallel to Route 28 between Manassas Park and Fairfax County.
“The study will take 18 months because we expect to have a lot of public input,” added Canizales.
The study is expected to begin in spring 2016.
The study comes more than two years after heated debate over whether or not to build a “Bi-County Parkway” that would link I-95 in Dumfries with Dulles Airport. That road would have converted Route 234 into a limited access highway. The proposed route would cut through a portion of Manassas Battlefield National Park.
At last check, state officials are still considering to build the road.
