Fairfax County is considering exercising its eminent domain powers to advance a sidewalk project on Columbia Pike.
During its meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the Board of Supervisors authorized a Nov. 18 public hearing to acquire easements to property needed to make the improvements on a stretch of Columbia Pike in Annandale.
The project will result in approximately 600 linear feet of new sidewalk on the south side of the roadway between Backlick Road and Tom Davis Drive. It also would reduce the number of curb cuts into properties, and install a new pedestrian crossing at Columbia Pike and Tom Davis Drive.
To make the improvements, land rights are required from six properties abutting the south side of Columbia Pike. They include 4301 Backlick Road; 7133, 7139, 7201 and 7219 Columbia Pike; and 7142 Little River Turnpike.
“Negotiations are in progress with the affected property owners; however, because resolution of these acquisitions is not imminent, it may be necessary for the Board to utilize quick-take eminent domain powers to commence construction of this project on schedule,” staff said in a memo to the board.
Under state law, localities have the power to force property owners to comply, with a final price for the easements determined through negotiation or court action. It is possible that the county government and owners of some or all of the affected properties will come to terms before the planned Nov. 18 hearing.
If the hearing goes forward, it will be held no earlier than 4 p.m. as part of the regular board meeting.
The public hearing authorization was one of a number of administrative items approved without comment at the Oct. 14 meeting.
The project is funded as part of the Columbia Pike Complete Streets initiative. The Board of Supervisors approved safety improvements in January 2023 following a June 2022 vehicular crash in the vicinity that killed one pedestrian and injured three others.
The project “has been discussed for a long time,” then-Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said at the time of the vote. Gross retired later that year and was succeeded by Andres Jimenez.
The stretch of Columbia Pike where the sidewalk is planned is a relatively narrow four-lane road. There have been requests for bicycle lanes added to the roadway. County staff have been dubious about the feasibility, but the proposal has not been ruled out.
The roadway set to receive the new sidewalk is part of a 4.5-mile stretch of the Columbia Pike corridor from Annandale to Bailey’s Crossroads previously studied for pedestrian and bicycle improvements. A final report on potential improvements was issued in 2018.
