Originals
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The Prince William County Department of Transportation aims to build a seven-story, $53 million parking garage near Wegmans grocery store in Woodbridge.
The plan for the new structure dates back more than 10 years. Initially, planners said commuters would park at the garage during the day, while baseball fans would flock to it on nights at weekends to watch Minor League Baseball games at a newly-constructed stadium.
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Updated 6 p.m. — The cost to renovate Manassas City Hall ballooned by more than 40%.
It will cost about $13 million to overhaul the City Hall building at 9027 Center Street. The building has been emptied for most of the year so contractors can perform the work.
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Mayor Derrick Wood declined an invitation from his opponent, Ebony Lofton, to participate in a debate on the issues facing Dumfries.
In an email to Lofton, Wood states his schedule for the next 55 days until the November 8 General Election is booked. Lofton proposed holding a debate a the town’s Simpson Community Center next to the town hall, at 17757 Main Street.
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Stafford County needs nearly 400 poll workers for the General Election on November 8.
The county has 37 polling locations, and each requires about 10 poeple to staff the polls. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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The state’s only commuter railroad warns of canceled trains on both lines, from Fredericksburg and Manassas to Washington, D.C. The lines are owned by freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern, respectively, and without train dispatchers monitoring the traffic on those lines, VRE trains cannot operate.
“Any labor strike would result in the immediate suspension of all Virginia Railway Express train service until a resolution is reached,” VRE penned notice to riders.
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Prince William County will spend more to protect elementary school students.
Virginia’s second-largest school district will hire security assistants at all 63 elementary schools. Qualifications for the job include high school education, prior security experience, and experience working with mentoring children. The starting pay is $39,471.
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[caption id="attachment_181387" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Interstate 95 over the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg [Photo: VDOT][/caption]
Interstate 95 over the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg [Photo: VDOT][/caption]
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has expressed interest in researching a Rappahannock Crossing Parkway to alleviate traffic Interstate 95 corridor.
The Board approved a letter to the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization requesting that it research options for a new bridge over the Rappahannock River, west of I-95. The Board also asked FAMPO to consider fiscal impacts, potential funding opportunities, route options, and effects on existing road networks.
The Board asked FAMPO to keep it and other localities informed of any developments in its research. Fredericksburg bypass studies were done in 2013 and 2019. Officials balked when a proposed road came too close to existing neighborhoods.
The Board chose "research" instead of "study," which had been used in a previous draft. Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke said "study" tends to have additional strings, such as federal and state funding. According to Bohmke, using the word "research" would give the FAMPO more flexibility.
FAMPO Director Ian Hollis was at the meeting to answer questions. Griffis-Widewater District Supervisor Tinesha Allen asked what the difference would be between research options now and previous studies.
Hollis said that previous studies had studied a bridge rather than the viability of many potential solutions. As of late, FAMPO's focus has been on rail and transit solutions, getting people out of cars and onto public transportation. Hollis said new methods of data collection could aid in the research, such as streetlight data which can map the origin and destinations of commuters; this method was not available for the previous studies.
Hollis also mentioned that there had been renewed calls for an outer-connector road network that could potentially alleviate traffic issues in the Stafford/Fredericksburg area corridor.
FAMPO's Citizen Citizen Transportation Advisory group's August meeting discussed the viability of an outer connector, which would include an eastern connector road from Stafford to Spotsylvania and a western connector through Culpeper and Orange counties.
Following that discussion, a push by Stafford Supervisors led Henry Scharbenberg, the group's chairman, to be booted from the panel. Scharpenburg pushed the idea of an outer connector without support from Supervisors, knowing an outer-connector road is not in the county's long-range transportation plan, Supervisors told Potomac Local News.
Culpeper and Orange are not FAMPO members and would need to join for the project to be viable, said Hollis.
During the meeting, Bohmke said that she was not in favor of an outer connector for fear of the possibility of urban sprawl.
Another concern from Allen and George Washington District Supervisor Tom Coen was a lack of communication between the organization and the county regarding matters on the connector.
Coen expressed concern that officials in nearby Fredericksburg seemed to know more about the issue than the county did and stressed that they should be kept in the loop if they were to be involved in such a project.
The Board approved the letter with a vote of 4-2-1. Allen abstained from the vote.
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They will also have about 20 more days to pay, with taxes now due Monday, October 26. The City Council unanimously approved the reduction and payment extension during its meeting Monday, September 12.
Residents who own vehicles will receive a revised tax bill with the 15% decrease reflected, and those who have paid their personal property bill will receive a credit on their account. After October 26, they will receive a refund.
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Police in Manassas and Prince William County responded to a series of threats at schools today.