An $18.4 million project to reduce congestion and improve safety on a nearly mile-long portion of Jermantown Road has been more than half a decade in the making. Now, an updated proposal is finally ready for public viewing.
Presented to the Fairfax City Council at a work session on Oct. 7, the project calls for a number of new turn lanes, enhanced markings for pedestrians, and tighter management of access to the roads.
The project, which is already fully funded by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), aims to accommodate future demand, improve connections to Fairfax County, and increase pedestrian and bicycle safety, Jordan Howard, a consultant with A. Morton Thomas and Associates, Inc., said.
It is also coming in under the $21 million budget allotted.
The busy 0.8-mile stretch of Jermantown Road — located between Route 50 and the Fairfax City line by I-66 — has several longstanding problems, according to Howard.
“One is that there’s a history of rear-end and angle crashes,” she said, referring to crashes that typically occur when a driver is making a turn. “The second is that we know — and have heard from the public, and can see from the traffic data — that there’s some congestion and traffic operation issues. 14,000 vehicles [a day] is not like I-66 level, but it’s also a fairly high volume for a more local arterial road.”
Another problem is that, due to the large number of driveways, the corridor contains more than 30 access points in less than a mile. That’s so many that it does not meet city or state spacing requirements, Howard noted.
In order to mitigate the issue, the proposal suggests converting the entrances to Comfort Inn, H-Mart (north), and Gainsborough Court (south) to right-turn-in, right-turn-out driveways only.
It also calls for potentially adding northbound right turn lanes at Orchard Street and at Carol Street, and a northbound left turn at Providence Elementary School. Dedicated turn lanes can help reduce stop-and-go traffic, which in turn reduces the number of opportunities for things to go wrong, Howard said.
A two-way left turn lane — which can be used by vehicles traveling in different directions — could also be replaced by a median, along with dedicated right and left turn lanes. Prime locations for that option include Cavalier Court and Katherine Johnson Middle School.
To improve pedestrian safety, the proposal also suggests adding lighting throughout the corridor, more high visibility markings, rapid flashing beacons near the schools and Carol Street, and a pedestrian island at Carol Street.
“We want to have a safe corridor for pedestrians, for bicyclists,” Howard said. “Today there’s limited bicycle accommodations. There’s no bike lanes. There’s a small section that has a shared-use path, but it’s not consistent. There’s no connection to the I-66 trail yet. So those are things that we are looking at as challenges in its current condition.”
The proposal suggests creating a 10-foot-wide asphalt path for both bicyclists and pedestrians along the east side of Jermantown, and a 5-foot sidewalk along the west side, providing a connection to the I-66 Parallel Trail.
Bus riders on the now-fully multi-modal road would benefit from amenities such as benches and trash cans at all CUE bus stops, as well as several new shelters and bike racks, city staff said.
Residents can submit comments on the design at a public hearing on Dec. 9, after which staff will make revisions to the proposal.
Under the current project schedule, construction is anticipated to begin in May 2028 and conclude in December 2029.
