County supervisors reacted unhappily to how little of their approved funding for pedestrian and bicyclist improvements has filtered down to completed projects.
“How completely unacceptable — it has to change,” said Dranesville Supervisor Jimmy Bierman to the news that only about $12 million of the $82.1 million approved for improvements has been encumbered or spent.
“I’ve had it up to here,” Bierman said. “Everyone who works on those projects needs to understand.”
Supervisors in 2022 set a funding target of $100 million for improvements that include new sidewalks and other improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians. The discussion on the lack of spending came as county staff proposed no additional funding beyond the current $82.1 million as part of a Sept. 16 budget-carryover discussion.
Board Chair Jeff McKay was first to question why so little of the approved funding had trickled down to completed projects.
“The frustration is clear here,” McKay said, wanting to know “why it takes so long.”
To “speed up the pipeline [of projects] is something we all should be focused on,” he told staff.
Finding himself playing defense on the matter, County Executive Bryan Hill said the dollar figure provided to supervisors may only represent a portion of the cost of projects that are on the horizon.
But Hill acknowledged more work needs to be done to spend the money that has been allocated.
“I’m not saying it shouldn’t be going faster,” he said, promising to come back with a more detailed explanation of what projects are completed and those that are in process.
Bierman said he saw no need to top up the funding stream with additional cash until there is more movement toward spending what already is available.
“Why would we add money to a fund that is just sitting there?” he asked.
Several supervisors questioned whether delays at the Virginia Department of Transportation level were contributing to a lag in local projects moving forward. Whether that was the case or not, McKay said, it was time to light a fire under those in county staff responsible for getting projects completed.
“This issue has to be fixed,” he said. “It should not take this long.”
