By Brian Trompeter
Fairfax County supervisors this fall will consider authorizing residential cut-through permits for people whose streets have turn restrictions to deter motorists from taking shortcuts through neighborhoods.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) have a cut-through-mitigation program that bans turns into streets in qualifying neighborhoods at certain times of day to protect those areas from drivers avoiding congested roadways. The restrictions apply to all motorists, including residents who live there.
The county’s proposed cut-through-permit program, discussed June 18 at the Board of Supervisors’ Transportation Committee meeting, could be adopted by the board this fall and implemented early next year.
Eligible residents who obtain the reflective decals will be allowed to enter streets during otherwise prohibited times.
“I don’t think this opens up the floodgates,” Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) said of the proposed cut-through program, “but this helps neighborhoods being absolutely crushed by the problem.”
The General Assembly in 2019 gave Fairfax County the authority to implement a residential cut-through permit program. FCDOT would determine the permit zones and county supervisors would establish them.
Applicants for cut-through permits would receive a slight break from the earlier suggested $25 fee. Instead, county officials plan to charge $24 per permit per year and pro-rate the fee on a $2-per-month basis for those who apply throughout the year.
Applicants would need to show proof of residency and vehicle registration at an address inside the permit zone, with permits issued only to verified resident vehicles.
During the program’s first year, county officials would pay about $2,000 for permit decals, $500 for signage (which must be approved by VDOT) and $500 for postage and other materials.
Initially, residents living at 355 addresses in three neighborhoods would be eligible for county cut-through permits. Projected revenues from the program, which would go to the general fund, would range from $8,520 if all 355 residences bought a permit for one vehicle to $25,560 if all purchased decals for three vehicles.
When supervisors discussed the cut-through-traffic issue in February, the county government was processing requests for turning restrictions for an additional 412 residences in three areas: Weirich Road/Starlit Ponds Drive in Braddock District, Dead Run Drive/Carper Street in Dranesville District and Allen Avenue in Mason District.
Bierman, whose district has been inundated with cut-through traffic skirting the 495 NEXT Project, asked whether it would be better to display the decal on a vehicle’s windshield or bumper. County police representatives at the meeting said the windshield was preferable, as that’s where officers are used to looking for inspection stickers.
Henri Stein McCartney, a transportation planner with FCDOT, worked to allay concerns by some on the board about the permit program’s workload burden on county staff. The volume of cut-through applications would be far less than the 8,000 or so people who seek residential-parking permits each year, she said.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay (D) asked county staff June 18 to carve out policy exceptions to give police officers ticketing latitude for delivery trucks and clients of home-based businesses and daycare centers within the permit zones.
