With development continuing to emerge around Reston Town Center, Fairfax County is making a new push to obtain funding for a long-planned extension of the Town Center Parkway.
The proposed Dulles Toll Road underpass, which will connect Sunrise Valley Drive and Sunset Hills Road, is one of four major projects that the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) plans to submit for state funding from Virginia’s FY 2026- FY2031 Smart Scale Program.
The Board of Supervisors approved FCDOT’s recommended submissions yesterday (Tuesday). The other projects — a Route 7 widening in Pimmit Hills to allow for bus rapid transit (BRT), a Frontier Drive extension in Springfield and a second phase of intersection improvements on Braddock Road — all got some funding from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) last week.
However, the Town Center Parkway underpass has no funds yet for construction, even though it’s been contemplated for over a decade, before the Smart Scale program was even established.
The project was previously submitted for Smart Scale funding in 2022 and for federal funds from the fiscal year 2030 Regional Surface Transportation Program and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality programs earlier this year, according to FCDOT.
“Unfortunately, it was not selected to receive funding in either case,” FCDOT Head of Communications Freddy Serrano said by email. “We will continue to look for various programs to try to get this and other transportation projects in the County funded.”
Before the board’s vote yesterday, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said he’s “hopeful” this bid for funding will prove successful. The county will seek $363.3 million, enough to cover the estimated $315.9 million cost with some flexibility in case inflation and other issues drive up costs.
“This…is a great example of a road project that’s really important for transit-oriented development to work appropriately,” Alcorn said. “So, I hope as, regionally, we have discussions about various transportation projects that we understand the context. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that we can get some funding on this.”
The underpass was first added to Fairfax County’s comprehensive plan in 1998 as a proposed solution to traffic congestion on Reston Parkway, the primary access point to the growing Reston Town Center, according to then-Hunter Mill District planning commissioner John Palatiello.
The project was included in a 2012 transportation analysis of the Dulles corridor in anticipation of Metro’s Silver Line, and a Reston Network Analysis completed in 2018 found that a 4-lane tunnel under the toll road west of Edmund Halley Drive could save drivers as many as 374 hours of travel.
A consultant hired by the Virginia Department of Transportation to evaluate the project’s feasibility determined that an underpass would be preferable to a tunnel, presenting possible designs to the community in spring 2021. Completed that July, the study estimated that construction would take about 36 months and $166.8 million.
The other submitted projects
The county will also seek $166.8 million for the Frontier Drive extension, which will extend the road from Franconia-Springfield Parkway to Loisdale Road, improve the Franconia Metro station entrance and add on-street parking and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
With a current cost estimate of $241.6 million, the project had secured $80.8 million before the NVTA awarded it $111.9 million as part of its latest six-year funding program, according to county staff.
The project will be critical for development in Springfield, particularly if the county wants to “get anything done” with the General Services Administration warehouse (6808 Loisdale Road) that was passed over for the FBI’s planned new headquarters, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said at the board meeting.
“I appreciate that it’s been elevated to the place that it is and acknowledge that this is going to make a huge difference from an economic development standpoint for that part of our district,” Lusk said.
FCDOT also plans to request $296.8 million for the Route 7 widening between I-495 and I-66, which received $101.4 million from NVTA, and $161.6 million for the Braddock Road improvements, which was allocated $27.3 million by NVTA.
Created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2014, the Smart Scale program prioritizes transportation projects for funding from the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) based on congestion mitigation, accessibility, safety, environmental quality and economic development, among other factors.
The CTB approved revisions to the program last December that some local and regional transportation planners worried will benefit large highway and road projects over smaller initiatives intended to benefit pedestrians and cyclists.
