The Fairfax County Parkway plan.
A project that impacts thousands of commuters a day is the Fairfax County Parkway Widening Project on the northbound lanes in the Fairfax Station area. The project adds another lane each way for about four miles of Fairfax County Parkway between Nomes Court and Route 29. This stretch of the parkway sees lots of traffic during the day and it was determined that the current two-lane configuration was not adequate to handle the volume of cars. The project is scheduled to be completed in mid-2027.
Part of the parkway widening project is an interchange at Fairfax County Parkway and Popes Head Road to relieve a big bottleneck during rush hours. The $82 million project is currently underway to raise Pope's Head Road over Fairfax County Parkway, eliminating the stop light and a big traffic jam that occurs each morning and evening during rush hour.
Another project under construction in the south county area is the intersection improvements at Franconia Road and Rose Hill Drive. Elements of this $534,000 project include a flashing yellow arrow on westbound Franconia Road, signalized crosswalk and ramp upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Projects in design in southern Fairfax County include intersection improvements at Newington and Cinder Bed Road, intersection improvements at Telegraph Road and Hayfield Road, and a bridge replacement on Walker Road where it crosses Piney Run south of Springfield.
A recently completed project is the implementation of Burke Centre Shopping Center Left Turn Restriction in Fairfax County. The attention to this began last May in response to crash fatalities when cars pulled out of the shopping center to turn left.
A $241.6 million project at Frontier Drive near the Springfield Town Center has been talked about for years but so far, no funding has been identified for this project so there has been no progress so far. The project entails ramp reconstruction where Frontier Drive is accessed near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, and continuing Frontier Drive through the station to connect to Loisdale Road on the other side.
There is one project under review by VDOT that they call a "megaproject," and that project is aimed at extending the express toll lanes 11 miles from the Springfield Interchange across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Maryland. This project is considered a public-private partnership which will be ultimately funded by tolls.
On the other end of the Capital Beltway, transportation planners are building project 495 NEXT to extend the express/toll lanes up to the American Legion Bridge and Potomac River into Maryland on the northern end. Updating and widening the American Legion Bridge is on hold right now as the Maryland DOT pursues federal grants for the project. The funding level remains consistent in the draft Consolidated Transportation Program currently relative to last year’s final CTP, MDOT said. "However, given the overall fiscal situation that the Department faces, we are considering further phasing of the work related to the American Legion Bridge," they added. Phasing means delaying in this case.
Bus Rapid Transit on Richmond Highway
The federal government recently approved the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit project to enter the Engineering Phase. The BRT will feature a 7.4-mile dedicated bus lane from Huntington Metro Station to Fort Belvoir. The $937 million project includes nine stations, in addition to pedestrian and bicycle accommodations and is expected to be operational by late 2031.
This BRT system is part of Supervisor Dan Storck’s “Embark Richmond Highway,” plan which includes pedestrian, bike and road improvements along with affordable housing and commercial space so people can work close to where they live, reducing the reliance on a lengthy commute.