STAFFORD, Va. – If you’re driving through Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, or along I-95 this week, expect delays due to overnight paving, bridge repairs, road closures, and resurfacing projects. Here’s a roundup of major traffic impacts you should know about:

Interstate 95 Northbound

• Exit 110 (Ladysmith) to Exit 118 (Thornburg)
  Monday – Thursday, 9 p.m.–5 a.m.: Alternating lane closures near mile marker 117 for bridge maintenance over the Matta River.
• Exit 118 (Thornburg) to Exit 126 (Spotsylvania)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m.–4:30 a.m.: Expect milling and paving operations with mobile lane closures between mile markers 121–126.
• Exit 140 (Courthouse Road) to Exit 143 (Garrisonville Road)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m.–4:30 a.m.: Alternating lane closures for paving between mile markers 140–142.
• Exit 143 (Garrisonville Road) to Exit 148 (Quantico)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m.–4:30 a.m.: Milling and paving between mile markers 146–147.

Interstate 95 Southbound

• Exit 126 (Spotsylvania) Off-Ramp
  Begins Monday, June 16: One lane of the widened off-ramp to Route 1 southbound will be closed through early July for final paving and concrete work.

Spotsylvania County

• Route 1 & I-95 Interchange Area
  Ongoing improvements with multiple nighttime lane closures on Route 1 and exit ramps.
• Various Roads
  Resurfacing and construction on Old Plank Road (Routes 610), Harrison Road (Route 620), Falcon Drive, Smith Station Road, and more. Expect daytime flagging and nighttime lane shifts.
• Subdivision Work
  Forest Hills and Rivers Bluff subdivisions will have one-way traffic during daytime resurfacing operations.

Stafford County

• Route 3 (Kings Highway)
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.: Single lane closures for fiber installation.
• Route 17 Southbound
  Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.: Intermittent closures for utility work.
• Route 644 (Rock Hill Church Road)
  Closed June 16–19: Full road closure for bridge maintenance over Aquia Creek. Follow posted detour.
• Other Projects
  Expect work zones with alternating traffic on Celebrate Virginia Parkway, Garrisonville Road, Caisson Road, and more.

Fredericksburg

• Fall Hill Avenue
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.: Alternating lane closures near Route 1 and Bridgewater Street.
• Lafayette Boulevard
  Wednesday – Friday, 7 a.m.–2 p.m. (Noon Friday): Southbound lane shifted to dual turn lane for construction near Twin Lake Drive.
• Intersection Projects
  Route 1 intersections at Fall Hill Avenue and Princess Anne Street/Hanson Avenue will experience intermittent overnight closures through June 2026.
• Lafayette Boulevard at Twin Lakes/Kensington
  Construction continues through November 2025 on a new pedestrian and bicycle connector.

For the latest updates, detour maps, and project timelines, visit VDOT’s Fredericksburg District page.

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STAFFORD, Va. – A judge has temporarily halted timbering near Courthouse Road, where a developer plans to build a large data center. The emergency injunction comes after neighbors raised alarms and Stafford County filed a legal complaint alleging zoning violations and broken land-use promises.

The order, granted June 9, 2025, targets Augustine South Associates, LLC, linked to the proposed 1,042-acre GWV data center now under consideration for rezoning. The land is zoned A-2 Rural Residential, where commercial tree cutting is prohibited. The county’s complaint also says the work violated “Proffer 9,” a condition meant to preserve trees unless their removal is essential.

“Yes, the County can confirm that the injunction was granted based on multiple elements that the court determined satisfy the requirements necessary for it to grant temporary injunctive relief,” said Andrew Spence, a spokesman for Stafford County.

The tree clearing occurred on parcels off Kelsey Lane and Courthouse Road—specifically Tax Map Parcels 29-39C, 29-82, 29-36, and 29-81. In an affidavit, the zoning administrator said the damage would cause irreparable harm and that replanting would not fix it.

Although the County ensured legal notice was served—including via email—neither the developer nor their attorney appeared at the court hearing. “That is confirmed,” Spence said, clarifying that contrary to some accounts, there was no testimony from a sheriff’s captain.

Some residents reported seeing tree clearing continue on June 11, two days after the injunction was granted. The County says it has not been able to confirm whether timbering resumed following the court order.

Spence said the County is pursuing a permanent injunction at a future hearing, during which the developer will be formally required to respond. “The County intends to enforce any violations similarly as we act concerning any other Proffer or Zoning Violations reported,” he said.

The proposed data center has already drawn pushback from nearby residents, who cite environmental concerns, loss of forest buffers, and diminished quality of life. Some say the recent logging was clearly visible from their homes.

Although the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources found no violations of state environmental laws, and the Department of Forestry confirmed it doesn’t issue logging permits, the County maintains the tree removal violated local zoning and land-use proffers.

STAFFORD, Va. – Thousands of families have now confirmed whether their children will ride the bus next school year, as Stafford County Public Schools continues to implement its new transportation opt-in policy.

As of the end of May 2025, 29,717 students across the division have declared their transportation intentions for the upcoming school year. Of those, 5,640 students have opted out of morning service, and 5,224 have opted out of afternoon service, according to information presented at June 10, 2025 School Board meeting.

The district’s transportation department began routing on June 3, 2025, and route information is scheduled to appear in ParentVUE by July 1. Final route details will be emailed to families on July 29, with drivers receiving their assignments on August 5, followed by practice runs August 7–8. A Transition Day for students is set for August 11.

A Shift Prompted by Crisis

The opt-in system marks a major change in how SCPS manages school bus service—and it’s a direct response to a transportation crisis that unfolded in August 2024, when more than 3,000 students were left without assigned bus service on the eve of the first day of school.

Parents received late-night notifications that their children would not have transportation the following morning, prompting widespread confusion and community outrage. Some students were still without transportation weeks into the school year.

Potomac Local News covered the crisis extensively. At the time, school officials blamed new, untested routing software and staff shortages, while parents criticized the lack of timely communication. Interim Superintendent Chris Fulmer acknowledged that the system had been rolled out too quickly and without adequate preparation.

In March 2025, SCPS announced the move to an opt-in model, requiring families to actively request school bus service. The shift was designed to eliminate unused bus stops and routes, allowing the department to use its resources more efficiently and reliably.

What’s New This Year

The transportation team presented an update to the school board in June, highlighting several changes beyond the opt-in system:

• A new dispatcher will be added to the department starting July 1 to improve route monitoring and communication.
• The district introduced digital request forms (TR-1) for students with disabilities, integrating transportation needs directly into Synergy, the school division’s student information system.
• The MyRide app remains available for parents to track bus locations, although reliability remains a concern in areas with limited cell coverage.

The transportation department also addressed an ongoing concern from drivers: behavior management on the bus. Last school year, more than 1,600 behavior referrals were submitted. Drivers say they are often not informed whether their concerns are addressed by school administrators.

Superintendent Dr. Daniel W. Smith noted that behavior management should reflect a student’s actions across all environments—classrooms, lunchrooms, and buses—and emphasized the importance of a feedback loop so drivers know their reports are taken seriously.

Parents who fail to opt in or change their minds must now go through their school registrar to request transportation. If a student does not ride the bus for 10 consecutive school days, they will be removed from the manifest (though the stop remains). Re-entry could take up to 10 business days.

STAFFORD, Va. – Residents living near a proposed data center site in Stafford County are raising alarms about logging activity they say violates local zoning laws, environmental protections, and community trust.

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STAFFORD, Va. – Stafford County’s drinking water met or exceeded all state and federal health standards in 2024, according to the county’s latest Water Quality Report. The report outlines how the county’s two primary water treatment facilities — Smith Lake and Lake Mooney — together delivered more than 4.2 billion gallons of water to customers in 2023.

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Interstate 95 Northbound

• Exit 118 (Thornburg) to Exit 126 (Spotsylvania)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m. – 4:30 a.m.: Alternating lane closures between mile markers 121-126 for milling and paving mobile operation.
• Exit 140 (Courthouse Road) to Exit 143 (Garrisonville Road)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m. – 4:30 a.m.: Alternating lane closures for milling and paving between mile markers 140-142.
• Exit 143 (Garrisonville Road) to Exit 148 (Quantico)
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m. – 4:30 a.m.: Alternating lane closures for milling and paving between mile markers 146-147.

Interstate 95 Southbound

• Exit 126 (Spotsylvania) Off-Ramp
  Sunday – Saturday, 7 p.m.-10 a.m.: Alternating single lane closures on the off-ramp to Route 1. Final construction activities to widen the ramp and build an additional right turn lane to Route 1 southbound.

Spotsylvania County

• Route 1 at Arcadia Road
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: All travel lanes will remain open, but Route 1’s travel lanes have shifted slightly between Arcadia Road and Mudd Tavern Road for road improvement work.
• Route 1 at I-95
  Sunday – Monday, 10 p.m.-5 a.m.: Traffic signal work at the Route 1 and I-95 intersection at the Exit 126 interchange. Flaggers will direct drivers through the intersection.
• Route 1 at Southpoint Parkway
  Sunday – Thursday, 7 p.m.-7 a.m. and Friday – Saturday, 10 p.m.-6 a.m.: Alternating single lane closures on Route 1 between the I-95 southbound off-ramp and Southpoint Parkway for final construction activities.
• Route 1 Northbound
  Sunday – Thursday, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. and Friday – Saturday, 10 p.m.-6 a.m.: Alternating single lane closures on Route 1 northbound between Southpoint Parkway and Market Street for construction.
• Route 1 Resurfacing
  Monday – Thursday, 8 p.m.-6 a.m.: Mobile operation with alternating lane closures on Route 1 northbound and southbound between the Ni River bridge and Filter Lane for milling and paving.
• Route 620 (Harrison Road)
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: Alternating lane closures between Old Plank Road and Gordon Road for road widening.
• Route 620 (Spotswood Furnace Wood)
  Monday – Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Road CLOSED between River Road and U.S. Ford Road for pavement repair. All traffic will be detoured to Route 3 and Elys Ford Road.

City of Fredericksburg

• Fall Hill Avenue
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Alternating lane closures between Route 1 and Bridgewater Street. Flaggers will direct traffic through the work zone.
• Lafayette Boulevard
  Monday – Wednesday, 4 a.m. – 6 a.m.: Alternating lane closures between St. Pauls Street and Kensington Place for paving work.
  Monday – Friday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.: Right lane closure on Lafayette Boulevard between Twin Lake Drive and St. Paul Street.
• Route 1 at Fall Hill Avenue & Princess Anne Street
  Intersection improvement projects are underway. Expect intermittent single lane and shoulder closures, mostly overnight. Completion by June 2026.

Stafford County

• Route 1
  Thursday, Midnight – 5 a.m.: Intermittent full traffic stops for up to 15-minute intervals between Telegraph Road and Merryview Court for utility work under permit.
• Route 3 (Kings Highway)
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Single lane closures between Route 607 (Cool Springs Road) and Route 3 (Blue and Gray Parkway) for fiber installation under permit.
• Route 17 Southbound
  Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Intermittent right lane closures on southbound Route 17 between Village Parkway and Hartwood Church Road for waterline and sewer line installation under permit.
• Route 607 (Cool Springs Road)
  Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Single lane closures between Route 3 Business and Route 218 (White Oak Road) for fiber installation under permit.
• Stefaniga Road
  Tuesday – Friday, 9 a.m.- 7 p.m.: Trench widening work between Poplar Road and Mountain View Road. Flaggers will alternate one-way traffic through the work zone.

STAFFORD, Va. – Stafford County has quietly ended its contract with PulsePoint, a mobile app that alerts nearby users when someone in a public space is experiencing cardiac arrest and may need CPR. The decision marks the conclusion of an eight-year relationship with the public safety technology.

The county’s contract with PulsePoint expired in April 2025 and was not renewed. Officials say the service, which once promised to help save lives by quickly mobilizing CPR-trained residents, no longer delivers on its original purpose.

“Our contract with PulsePoint did not extend beyond April of this year,” said Katie Brady, Public Information Officer for Stafford County Fire and Rescue. “Since Stafford County began utilizing PulsePoint, its utility changed from its intended use for community notification of cardiac arrests in public places. SCFR has not seen an increase in bystander CPR as a result of information provided in the app.”

Stafford joined PulsePoint in 2017. The county paid $8,500 annually to maintain the service.

Instead of continuing with the app, the fire and rescue department plans to invest in community outreach efforts. Brady said the department will continue offering hands-only CPR training at public events and sharing incident-related information, such as road closures, through social media, news outlets, and its Stafford Alerts system.

PulsePoint Responds

PulsePoint, however, maintains that its platform is still widely effective and used successfully across North America.

“We’re open to communicating with the county on a path forward, specifically looking at ways to optimize their use of the most up-to-date version of PulsePoint so they are utilizing all the available features,” said Shannon Smith, Vice President of Communications at PulsePoint. “In similarly sized communities, we have seen a significant increase in bystander CPR and AED use across our network.”

According to Smith, PulsePoint currently serves over 5,400 communities across the U.S. and Canada and works with more than 800 fire and rescue agencies nationwide.

Local Agencies Still Participating

While Stafford County has exited the program, other Virginia jurisdictions continue to participate in PulsePoint. These include:

• Prince William County
• Fairfax County
• Spotsylvania County
• Louisa County

These jurisdictions remain listed on PulsePoint’s active user map and continue to use the app to promote public safety and community engagement.

A Growing Trend

Stafford’s decision comes amid a growing trend of jurisdictions reassessing their use of the platform.

• In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the fire department discontinued the service after 10 years, reporting only two successful bystander CPR responses. The city described the platform as “obsolete” and chose to redirect its $13,000 annual fee to local training programs.
• Montgomery County, Texas, also paused its PulsePoint subscription, citing low user engagement, lack of verified CPR interventions, and privacy concerns due to the app displaying precise incident addresses.
• Lucas County, Ohio, is weighing the end of its contract after finding that most users treated the app as a police and fire scanner rather than an emergency intervention tool.

Stafford County Public Schools is moving ahead with plans to eliminate artificial food dyes from school meals, following the signing of a new state law that will ban certain synthetic color additives by 2027.

Governor Glenn Youngkin recently signed HB 1910 and SB 1289, legislation that “prohibit[s] public elementary and secondary schools from serving any food that contains specific color additives for school meals or competitive food.”

“I’m encouraged by this truly non-partisan effort that started with Parents stepping forward and saying let’s work together to provide healthier food choices for our kids during the school day,” Youngkin said. “HB1910 and SB1289 are grassroots bills at their best and provide Virginia families with healthier options for school meals.”

HB910 had patrons included Republican Delegates Paul Milde (Stafford), Ian Lovejoy (Prince William), and Robert Orrock and Phillip Scott (Spotsylvania). SB1289’s patrons included Senators Tara Durant (R – Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford) and Danica Roem (D – City of Manassas, City of Manassas Park, Prince William County).

Durant recently visited Stafford’s Grafton Village Elementary School to speak with 5th-grade students on Career Day, which she has done for several years. She shared the bill with the students, who will be rising 8th-graders when the ban goes into effect. Durant said the fifth graders were surprised to see the number of ingredients in some of their favorite snacks, and asked questions about how manufacturers might change products to comply with the ban. Durant is seeing a shift towards healthier diets and lifestyles with the young adult generation, particularly as a mother of twenty-year-olds. She said they choose more holistic foods and lifestyle choices, avoiding processed foods, dyes, alcohol and smoking.

In Stafford, school nutrition staff have already begun preparations to comply with the law.

“We are working closely with our food vendors to remove and replace foods with the banned dyes,” said Brian Williams, Executive Director of Nutrition Services for Stafford County Public Schools. “Nutrition is in the process of updating product specifications in anticipation of the law,” he added, saying the nutrition services team is “currently working with our food manufacturers to identify and strategically replace food products containing the banned dyes going into the new school year.”

Williams confirmed that some products have already been removed: “In this school year, we found and removed several snacks that contained the Red Dye #3 and we are now in the process of conducting an in depth review of the new school year food specification list.”

New products are also being introduced: “Students will see more snack items produced without banned dyes as Frito Lay and other manufacturers have already begun to make their products compliant to the upcoming laws.” Dye-free Doritos were recently offered at elementary schools for “Walking Tacos,” a dish where chips are served with taco fixings.

Williams said the county had not received any feedback from students.

He also addressed broader efforts to reduce dyes through fresher menu items. “Stafford County Public Schools Nutrition Services has made tremendous strides in reducing highly processed entrees while increasing fresh, whole, and scratch cooked meals,” Williams said. “By offering more scratch prepared dishes, the department is able to reduce and eliminate the occurrences of many of these banned dyes from the student lunch menu.”

There are no current financial concerns or funding efforts tied to the transition. “No, not at this point,” Williams said when asked if there were financial obstacles. On the topic of funding, he added, “No,” the district has not received or applied for any.

Williams said the district plans to keep families informed. “Nutrition Services will work with the division’s communication department to best target our banned dye communications with families.”

California passed a ban on six artificial food dyes in school foods in September 2024, effective in December 2027. West Virginia passed a ban on seven artifical food dyes in January 2025, effective August 2025; the state will have a retail ban beginning in January 2028.

On the last weekend in May, most Stafford families were abuzz with the excitement of summer’s arrival. The Allwine family was abuzz with excitement over the annual AA Farm Honey harvest.

AA Farm Honey Co., founded by Kenny Allwine, is in its third year of honey farming. Allwine, who works in software technology, started with two hives, which grew to 15 the next year, and jumped up to 25 this year. Allwine, a Stafford resident, got into beekeeping because he was curious. He reached out to local beekeeping groups to learn more, taking classes and working with a mentor from King George’s Gateway Beekeepers Association. Allwine said the classes are a valuable resource, and having a great mentor is the key to success.

Allwine keeps hives at his father’s farm in King George, just over the Stafford County line, where the colorful boxes line the gravel driveway beneath the trees. Allwine’s son and nephew have enjoyed helping paint the boxes over the years: one is inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while another boasts the blue and grey of the University of Mary Washington (UMW).  Allwine, his wife Stephanie, and his brother Kyle are all UMW alumni; Allwine also serves as an adjunct professor at the campus. Kyle was Stafford’s Economic Development Director before taking a role at Northern Neck Cooperative.

Allwine visits the hives every week, checking whether they need new layers of boxes to keep growing and making sure they seem healthy. Some of his hives have come from calls for honeybee relocation, and some just showed up on his father’s farm, swarming on nearby trees.  Honeybees can travel up to five miles to visit flowers, their main food source.

After monitoring the bees throughout the year, adding sugar water during leaner months when nectar is scarce, the annual honey harvest is the biggest event for the farm.

On harvest weekend, three generations pitch in: Allwine’s father and son, both named Kenny; and his brother Kyle with his own son, also named Kyle. After removing frames of honey from the hives, the group spends the weekend in Kenny Senior’s workshop slicing the thick wax coating off of the honeycombs before inserting the comb trays into a centrifuge. The machine spins out the honey, which then flows out of a spigot at the bottom like liquid gold.

The honey is then filtered several times before being jarred. This year, they harvested 250 pounds of honey; last year, they pulled 60 pounds. Allwine sells the honey online, notifying subscribers by email when they are available for purchase. Last year’s offering sold out in days.

Allwine’s father, Kenny Senior, said the bees have not attracted any bears so far, but they are popular with the local skunks. He said the skunks will “knock” on the house to make bees fly out, then catch the bees for a quick snack.

Allwine said the most rewarding part of beekeeping has been spending time outside sharing the buzz with his kids — and passing down a love of nature, one hive at a time.

STAFFORD, Va. – Stafford County supports Option C, a proposed new Rappahannock River crossing that promises to reduce traffic and connect Stafford with Fredericksburg, without relying on I-95.

A Bridge Beyond I-95

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