By Brian Trompeter
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 23 approved a request by Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) to continue pressing Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials on concerns related to the Interstate 495 Express Lanes Northern Extension (495 NEXT) Project
Supervisors have, albeit with some reservations, supported that initiative, as well as Maryland’s plans to widen the American Legion Bridge and build Express Lanes on that state’s side of the Beltway to connect with Virginia’s.
But Maryland officials recently scrapped plans for a public-private partnership to build its improvements, and instead will seek federal grant funds.
“These changes have raised questions and concerns about what Maryland intends to do and when they intend to do it,” Bierman said in a board matter presented to colleagues.
On the Virginia side of the river, construction of the 495 NEXT Project has generated copious complaints from residents about tree losses, increases in traffic congestion and other problems.
Supervisors have not received a response to a letter they sent to Virginia Transportation Secretary W. Sheppard Miller III last September concerning the written agreement between Virginia and Maryland about the project, he said. Supervisors at a Dec. 12 meeting of the board’s Transportation Committee also did not get adequate answers from VDOT officials regarding Virginia’s coordination with Maryland on the initiative, Bierman said.
VDOT officials at that meeting also did not provide a timeline for the project’s reforestation plan or any community-engagement effort involved with it, he said.
“At this stage of the project, the lack of information is troubling,” said Bierman, who persuaded the board to have Fairfax County Department of Transportation officials draft another letter to Miller and present it to supervisors at the Feb. 13 Transportation Committee meeting.
Bierman’s motion also called for VDOT officials to present a plan at that meeting regarding Virginia’s coordination with Maryland on the 495 NEXT Project, as well as future collaboration with Fairfax County environmental agencies regarding the project’s reforestation plan.
County Officials Laud Oakton for Its 141st Birthday, Active Community Groups: Oakton received recognition for its 141st birthday – and a resolution from Fairfax County officials – Jan. 24 during the Providence District New Year Open House.
Supervisor Dalia Palchik (D-Providence) detailed the community’s history in a board matter she presented Jan. 23.
Oakton began in 1883. The community previously had been known as Flint Hill, but the U.S. Postal Service declined to establish a post office with that name because a locality in Rappahannock County already had that moniker, Palchik said.
Because large oak trees dotted the area, the community’s first postmaster, Squire Ernest Smith, suggested the name of “Oak’s Corner,” but the government went with a shorter version, Oakton, on Jan. 24, 1883, when it established a post office at Hunter Mill and Chain Bridge roads.
Formerly dominated by horse farms, Oakton began to gain more people, development and transportation options at the turn of the 20th century following the introduction of a trolley line there.
Palchik credited community organizations such as the Hunter Mill Defense League, Oakton Women’s Club, Options for Oakton and Save Blake Lane Park for working with county officials to achieve community priorities, such as construction of Oakton Library, establishment and beautification of local parks, pedestrian-safety upgrades and saving the last remaining Oakton “witness” tree, which existed in close proximity to some momentous events in the Civil War.
The community’s spirit got a boost from the Vale Club, Friends of the Oakton Library and other organizations, Palchik said. The Greater Oakton Community Association also provides beneficial programs for residents, promote civic engagement, advocates for community improvements and seeks to preserve Oakton’s historic and environmental assets, she said.
“In addition to the many local events held in Oakton’s parks and community spaces, community groups and passionately engaged residents have always worked closely with the Providence District in a partnership that is a model for community-driven governance,” Palchik said.
