Three people were taken to a hospital after a wild police pursuit on Interstate 95 in Fairfax County.
At 10:27 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, a Virginia State Police trooper was positioned along I-395, near Route 648 in Arlington County, when he observed a northbound vehicle almost strike another northbound vehicle.
Project leaders have yet to announce the exact opening date. Crews are working to make the final preparations for opening after five years of construction.
The nine-mile western stretch of the E-ZPass Express Lanes spans from Route 29 in Gainesville east to Route 28 in Centreville. The lanes feature multiple new ramps providing access to and from the E-ZPass lanes. The remaining 13 miles of new E-ZPass lanes on I-66 between Route 28 and I-495 (the Capital Beltway) should open in December 2022.
Following this traffic pattern change:
This will be the permanent movement for this ramp as part of the reconstruction of the I-66/Route 28 Interchange for the Transform 66 Outside of the Beltway Project, which is adding E-ZPass Express lanes to the highway between Haymarket and I-495.
The future of local bus service in some areas of Manassas and Manassas Park won’t be riding on a bus.
OmniRide will purchase four minivans to operate the micro-transit service in Manassas and Manassas Park. OmniRide will use vans to provide a “flexible” transit service similar to Lyft or Uber that will allow riders to book a ride through their phone or by calling OmniRide’s Customer Service office.
On Wednesday, August 31, crews erected a long-term closure of the left travel lane, which will be in place around-the-clock through Saturday, September 10. The left lane closure will reduce this section of westbound I-66 to three travel lanes from west of Route 234 Business (Sudley Road) near Groveton Road to Route 29 (Lee Highway) in Gainesville.
Additional lane closures will occur in this area during the overnight hours, says VDOT. These lane closures will allow crews to complete work for this section of roadway in preparation for the opening of the future 66 Express Lanes Outside the Beltway later this year.
The Virginia State Police has identified and is now looking to locate the suspect vehicle involved in a shooting incident on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County.
The suspect vehicle is a blue, two-door 2010 Honda Civic with a Virginia license plate: TWW 9398.
The two-term incumbent Democrat sent a letter to Youngkin demanding answers to how his administration is working to prevent another shutdown of Interstate 95 during a snowstorm like Virginia experienced on January 3, 2022.
Drivers were stranded along a 50-mile stretch of highway between Dumfries and Carmel Church, near Kings Dominion, for more than 12 hours without food, water, heat, and access to restrooms. Specifically, Spanberger wants to know how Youngkin is implementing recommendations outlined in an April report to prevent another disaster from occurring.
The Prince William County Department of Transportation will seek feedback from residents about a $53.3 million, seven-story parking garage in Woodbridge.
The county will hold a Design Public Hearing in the Prince William County Board Chambers at the McCoart Building at 2 p.m., Sept. 20, 2022, where they can learn more about the plan to build 1,400 spaces on a county-owned property that was once earmarked for the construction of Minor League Baseball stadium for the Potomac Nationals, at 2501 Opitz Boulevard, across from Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge.
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A small-scale replica of Aerodrome No.5, a lighter-than-air craft launched near Quantico in 1896, seven years before the famed Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C. [Photo: Rick Horner][/caption]
The Stafford Regional Airport held an event to announce the launch of its Aerodrome No.5 project, which will tell the story of the county's connection to early American aviation.
Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley is noted for successfully conducting the first heavier-than-air flight on May 6, 1896, with the designated Aerodrome No. 5. Langley chose Chopawamsic Island, a small land mass in the Potomac River between Quantico and Stafford County, as his launching point.
The 14-foot structure was launched from a houseboat off of the island's coast and flew approximately 3,300 feet for 90 seconds before having a gentle landing on the river. The Aerodrome No.5 flight is the first instance of mechanical flight in the U.S., event organizers said.
Until now historians have credited The Wright Brothers are credited for being the first to fully when they flew a heavier-than-air contraption at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on December 17, 1903. The state coined the phrase "first in flight" and printed it on its vehicle license plates.
Langley beat his record on November 26, 1896, when Aerodrome No.6 was launched from the same location and flew 4,200 feet at an average speed of 30 miles per hour.
"Stafford's history is so rich and deep, we want to get it out there and talk about it," said Scott Mayausky, treasurer of the Langley Flight Foundation. "What Langley achieved changed the course of world history, he was an instrumental part of that, and it happened right here in Stafford County. We want to recognize that, acknowledge that, and be proud that it happened here in Stafford County."
In addition to his position with the foundation, Mayausky is also the president of the Stafford Museum and Cultural Museum and the county's Commissioner of Revenue.
The Foundation and the Stafford Regional Airport have formed a partnership to have a to-scale model of Aerodrome No.5 built to display it in the airport's terminal. The 14 by 14 model intends to use it for educational purposes for students interested in STEM fields such as engineering, aviation, and mathematics.
Other possibilities of use for the Aerodrome No.5 exhibit include spurring more economic development and tourism, which could attract aviation enthusiasts and airplane and drone development.
"This is an incredible opportunity to not only educate people not only about a little-known aspect of Stafford's history but to give people a sense of the whole concept of what happened here and how we can move forward in the future," said Hank Scharpenberg, a member of the Stafford Regional Airport Authority.
The event was-co sponsored by the Langley Flight Foundation, a 501c3 corporation, seeking funding of $350,000 for constructing a replica of Aerodrome No.5. The Wright Experience in Warrenton would build the model, to be housed at the Stafford Regional Airport.
The original Aerodrome No.5 sits at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Langley Foundation has set up a GoFundMe page as one method of raising funds for the exhibit. Donations for the project can also be made on the foundation's webpage at langfound.org.
The traffic signals on Route 610 in North Stafford are talking to each other better now, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
VDOT recently completed a project to upgrade traffic signal communications and timing along the Route 610 (Garrisonville Road) corridor in North Stafford.
