Transportation officials in Prince William County identified seven projects at the cost of $9.35 million that need to be completed ahead of a new Potomac Nationals baseball stadium.
These roadway improvements are all centered around the site of the $35 million proposed baseball stadium, which sits at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, between a Wegmans grocery store and Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.
The most expensive on the list is a $3 million project to add a new right lane to Opitz Boulevard in front of the hospital. The new lane on Opitz would carry cars turning left from Potomac Town Center Drive, from a newly constructed $1.5 million turn lane at the intersection.
Together, the $4.5 million effort would add capacity at the busy the intersection and roadway. The new lane on Opitz Boulevard would carry drivers onto a nearby entrance ramp to Interstate 95 north. At 1,416 feet, the lane would be long enough so that drivers not wishing to enter the highway could merge out of the lane before entering the ramp, said Prince William County Transportation Department Director Rick Canizales.
The new lane would require the county to take land from the hospital at cost between $225 and $275,000, he added.
A proposed commuter parking garage is part of the stadium deal. Commuters would use a newly constructed parking deck for free on weekdays, and baseball fans would pay to the deck on nights and weekends. A $1.4 million improvement to Bridge View Drive — the small access road that carries town center traffic over a gully — would be needed to realign the intersection for the stadium to incorporate the garage.
Also on River Rock Way, officials said a $1.8 million access road to the stadium parking lot would be needed. Smaller improvements include a right-turn lane from Opitz Boulevard into the stadium ($725,000), modifying a right turn lane on River Rock Way ($450,000), and adding a walking/biking path along Opitz from River Walk Way to Potomac Town Center Boulevard ($475,000), according to the county report.
The county is in negotiations with land developer JBG Companies — the firm that owns Potomac Town Center and, along with baseball team, is pushing for approval of a new stadium — which would require JBG to cover the cost of all identified roadway improvements over $5 million, according to Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi.
Ordered and paid for by Prince William County, a private firm completed the traffic impact analysis that identified the needed improvements. It’s the same analysis the county requires private land developers to complete, said Principi.
The roadway improvement numbers come as the Board of Supervisors tonight is expected to vote on whether or not to send the stadium to a referendum vote in November. If the referendum passes, the Potomac Nationals have threatened to walk out of the deal.
The team currently plays at the 33-year-old Richard G. Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, a facility that doesn’t meet standards set forth by Minor League Baseball. The league mandates the team be in a new home, or on its way to a new home by 2018, according to team spokesman Seth Silber, whose father is the team owner.
Team owners want to keep the Class A Advanced Potomac Nationals, an affiliate of the Washington Nationals, at their home just 25 miles outside the nation’s capital. If the deal doesn’t go its way, Silber said the team will search for a new owner, and waiting for the November results of a baseball referendum does not give it enough time to find a new owner and to adhere to the 2018 stadium vacation order from the Minor League.
The team maintains that, if all goes to plan, it can pay the cost of construction over 30 years. However, if the team could not pay, taxpayers would be on the hook for a $3.2 million annual debt payment, as well as a $425,000 annual land lease payment to JBG, which includes a 10% escalation every 10 years.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors is expected to take up the matter its meeting today at the county government center at 2 o’clock, and again at 7:30 p.m.
