Shut out in the last round of jockeying for state transportation funding, Fairfax County officials are taking steps to be more successful next time.
For the next round of applications for “Smart Scale” grants, due over the summer, county staff intends to “focus on smaller projects” that require no more than $30 million through the program, said Noelle Dominguez, coordination and funding division chief for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT).
Dominguez and FCDOT director Gregg Steverson briefed the Board of Supervisors at a Transportation Committee meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 24) as a follow-up to a discussion held in June 2025, after none of Fairfax County’s proposals for Smart Scale funding were granted funding in the fiscal year 2026 round.
Fairfax County’s highest-ranked request — a bid for $70.5 million to construct a second phase of Braddock Road improvements — finished 109th statewide in the biennial funding competition, well below the cut-off threshold.
Only one project in Northern Virginia was granted Smart Scale funding for FY 2026. Submitted by Alexandria City, the request sought money for improvements to the intersection of Duke Street and Route 1.
At the Feb. 24 meeting, Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said the near-shutout of Northern Virginia projects did not just raise eyebrows among political leaders in the local area.
“Everyone in the state was a little uncomfortable with how poorly Northern Virginia did,” he said.
One of the reasons for the poor results, at least in Fairfax County’s case, was shooting too high. The county’s lowest funding request was $70 million, while the submissions ultimately approved for funding by the state topped out at $57 million.
To get coaching on how to best approach the competitive process, county officials engaged the consulting firm Rummel, Klepper & Kahl LLP.
“We’re looking for ways we can better strategize,” Steverson told supervisors.
Besides submitting less expensive proposals, Fairfax officials are considering submitting more applications, perhaps reaching the limit of 10 that the county is entitled to per cycle. They may also collaborate more with surrounding jurisdictions and regional transportation agencies.
The county could also focus on submitting projects included in Virginia’s Strategically Targeted Affordable Roadway Solutions (STARS) initiative, which identifies transportation projects to address congestion and safety challenges. More than half of the projects vetted through STARS were accepted for funding in recent rounds, Dominguez said.
Established in 2017, the Smart Scale program has provided between $859 million and $1.76 billion statewide per funding cycle for projects statewide.
Since the program’s start, Fairfax County has submitted 40 applications and been awarded funding for eight, including for improvements to Routes 7, 28 and 29; Popes Head Road; Braddock Road; and the Richmond Highway bus rapid transit project.
All but one of those projects came in at under $55 million, but all were more costly than the $30 million threshold county officials plan to now use.
Beyond short-term strategies, county officials may also turn to the General Assembly to revise the Smart Scale program’s funding formulas.
Several county leaders recently spoke with new state Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue and Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery about ways to tweak the rules through legislative action.
County Executive Bryan Hill said he would continue those negotiations, but acknowledged that getting legislation passed “is a bigger lift” than working to improve the county’s submissions under the existing formula.
Capping project submissions at $30 million “makes sense to me,” said Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, though he wondered what that would mean for more significant transportation projects, like improvements to Fairfax County Parkway.
While there are numerous funding sources available at the regional, state and federal levels, each came with its own challenges, Steverson said, describing the process as “a balancing act.”
The nearly $1 billion Richmond Highway transit project — dubbed “The One” — is a case in point. Its funding comes from a host of revenue streams at the local, regional, state and federal levels.
McKay said the staff presentation will be beneficial in plotting strategies.
“Now we have some formal analysis,” he said. “We need to test these [theories] and see if we can do better.”
McKay expressed hope that the new Spanberger administration will recognize the importance of Fairfax County and Northern Virginia transportation projects to the commonwealth as a whole.
“We’re driving the entire state’s economy,” he said.
Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity mused on whether Fairfax County should go back to issuing its own transportation bonds via public referendums. Regardless, he said the county board and staff need to make future projects as cost-efficient as possible.
“We’ve got to be looking at driving down the cost of projects,” he said. “We’ve got to build what’s reasonable.”
