Editors note: Potomac Local occasionally publishes opinion letters from our readers that address issues of broad community impact.
On September 7, a public meeting at the Manassas Park Community Center will highlight proposals to construct a new four-lane bypass around Manassas.
MANASSAS — New signs designed to make it easier to find parking in Downtown Manassas could be installed before Christmas.
The new blue signs with a large “P” printed on them, the international symbol to denote vehicle parking, will replace the traditional brown signs that match other street signs in downtown.
MANASSAS PARK — A two-lane bridge is back to normal.
The Old Centreville Road bridge over the Bull Run River was scheduled to reopen to traffic in both directions Saturday morning, Aug. 26.
HAYMARKET — The orange cones are gone, and a new interchange in Haymarket is officially open.
Northern Virginia’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange, or DDI — where traffic is shifted to the opposite side of the road as vehicles pass through the intersection — carries drivers on Route 15 across Interstate 66.
WOODBRIDGE — If Kaiser Permanente builds a new medical campus, its patients are sure to follow.
The 335,000 square feet Kaiser South Northern Virginia Hub campus would be located on Minnieville Road, east of Caton Hill Road in Woodbridge. A new traffic analysis of the Minnieville and Caton Hill roads in the proposed development area shows about 530 trips to the center would be made during the morning hours and about 580 in the afternoon.
QUANTICO — Nine miles of new track and improvements to Quantico’s rail station is underway and are hoped to help alleviate some of the congestion on the busy Interstate 95 corridor between Stafford and Washington, D.C.
The Arkendale to Powell’s Creek ‘third track project’ on the Potomac River is a $115 million-dollar investment of federal and state funds to benefit intercity passenger rail service in the I-95 Corridor.
STAFFORD — A new stoplight will be erected along Courthouse Road.
The light will be installed at the intersection of Courthouse Road and Liberty Knolls Drive in Stafford, at one of the entrances to Colonial Forge High School.
MANASSAS — When it comes to fixing Route 28, it’s down to a few options.
Option 1: Widen Route 28 from four to six lanes in Prince William County to match the widening taking place across the border in Fairfax County. That option is one of the costliest, as the county doesn’t own the right-of-way and about 70 businesses in the corridor would need to razed, said Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe.
DUMFRIES — The Town of Dumfries has submitted a project application to Virginia’s SMART SCALE program, with the intent of widening Northbound Route 1 from a two-lane undivided roadway to a six-lane divided roadway.
The project area is on Route 1 north/Fraley Boulevard between Brady’s Hill Road and Route 234.
RICHMOND – Governor Terry McAuliffe today joined the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and its private partner and operator of the I-95 Express Lanes, Transurban, to break ground on the start of construction of an eight-mile extension of the I-395 Express Lanes from Turkeycock Run near Edsall Road in Alexandria to the Washington, D.C. border. The project provides more options for faster and more reliable travel in one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the country and expands the region’s network of express lanes. The project includes a long-term investment in transit for the corridor, through a yearly payment of $15 million (to be escalated annually) that will be paid by Transurban to the Commonwealth. This annual transit payment will support transit and multimodal initiatives benefitting the corridor.
“Anyone who travels on I-395 and I-95 today can attest that this is one of the most congested corridors in the country,” said Governor McAuliffe. “Today’s groundbreaking is the first project of the Commonwealth’s larger Atlantic Gateway Initiative which aims to unlock the I-95 Corridor. The Atlantic Gateway Initiative and the I-395 project demonstrate how we can work with our public and private partners to improve the quality of life for Virginians and our visitors – and keep our new Virginia economy growing.”
