At Fredericksburg, three bridges cross the Rappahannock River to keep traffic flowing at Interstate 95 and points east. West of I-95, the closest bridge is over 40 miles away, increasing congestion and stress for many drivers.
This fueled much discussion at the “Rappahannock River Crossing Parkway Alternatives Study,” a Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.
Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River have a rich history, and this bond was prominent at the recent Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the University of Mary Washington. River enthusiasts and filmmakers highlighted the positive effects that rivers bring to an area.
Ten films were selected to show the needs of various rivers, and each approached an environmental theme or message. Amongst the first films viewed, a theme surrounded the idea that the well-being of a fish upstream could predict the well-being of other fish hundreds of miles away downstream. The brook trout and the striped bass were used as one example. “As those fish go, so go our stripers down in Kent Island,” said a Maryland fisherman in a film called “A Journey Upstream.” Water quality is an issue here, too. “The biggest threat to the Chesapeake Bay is water quality,” said one of the narrators.
As the Veterans Affairs Clinic enters the final year of construction, there are several transportation improvements north of Exit 126 in Fredericksburg to improve access to this needed facility for area veterans.
This May, the ribbon will be cut on one of those improvements: the Route 17 bridge over Interstate 95 at Mills Drive, just south of the clinic. The $23.5 million project includes a four-lane bridge with pedestrian accommodations. The old bridge was “structurally deficient,” VDOT said.
The five levels of spicy chicken is a feature at Crimson Coward, so at the recent opening of this area’s first restaurant, they put it out there that the “Burrrrn Baby, Burn” variety is only for the super spicey palettes.
Their description is “our hottest level,” but Crimson chef Nabil Asad isn’t sugar-coating it. “It’s very, very hot,” he said, pointing at the spices they use. You really have to have a high tolerance,” he said. It’s a variety of “Nashville Hot,” with an extra kick that’s Crimson Coward’s specialty.
Imagine being with the late Colin Powell, who was Secretary of State and a U.S. Army general, traveling around the world looking out for U.S. interests while maintaining diplomacy at nearly all costs. It’s tough to imagine everything he faced that shaped the 1990s and beyond.
Another set of eyes was on the scene, and that was Leslie Lautenslager, the executive assistant who captured it all in her book “My Time with General Colin Powell, Stories of Kindness, Diplomacy, & Protocol.” She will be in Fredericksburg on March 12 to talk about her experience.
Three Fredericksburg parks were under the microscope at a recent public meeting where planners were there to hear suggestions for the future of these parks in the wake of floods, funding shortfall, and changing outdoor trends.
“You’ve got to live with the flooding,” said environmental engineer Elizabeth Lardner, who went between the three displays talking to the residents and city staff at the Dorothy Hart Community Center. “We’re working with Mother Nature,” she said, referring partially to a recent flood that put Old Mill Park underwater when the Rappahannock River overflowed its banks in early January.
George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, died in 1789 and was buried in Fredericksburg near a monument that resembles the Washington Monument but on a lesser scale.
The exact location of the actual grave remains unknown though, so in steps the GSSI Ground Penetrating Radar apparatus manned by historians from Washington Heritage Museums and a professor from Mary Washington University to investigate this colonial mystery.
With a road project as significant as the Interstate 66 Express Lanes, having an office open to the public is ideal for those wanting to ask questions to an actual person and discuss future initiatives that impact hundreds of thousands of people in the I-66 corridor.
There is a certain level of complications, too, with the switchable HOV E-ZPass, so an office along I-66 outside the beltway is ideal. Only it’s not open and doesn’t appear to be in operation.
