The Town of Herndon is angling to obtain funds for a project it hopes will make Sunset Business Park easier and safer to visit, even as construction continues on a different side of the commercial complex.
The Herndon Town Council authorized staff on Tuesday (June 4) to apply for up to $6 million in federal funds for access and safety improvements at the Herndon Parkway and Sunset Park Drive intersection.
Based on a conceptual design developed in 2022, the project would turn the existing roundabout at the business park’s shared entrance with the office condominiums at 459 and 465 Herndon Parkway into a standard, signalized four-way intersection.
Crosswalks and pedestrian signals are proposed on all sides of the intersection, which will be upgraded to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and drivers exiting the business park onto Herndon Parkway would be barred from turning right on a red light.
The town is also considering relocating an access point for the Springwood Professional Center on the other side of Herndon Parkway, because drivers frequently attempt to turn left out of what’s supposed to be a right-turn-only exit, according to Herndon Director of Community Development Elizabeth Gilleran.
“Right now, what we have is a somewhat dangerous situation,” she told the town council. “People will try to come out, turn left, actually drive into the opposing lane a little bit and then go through the median cut into the northbound lanes of Herndon Parkway. That is still an issue that we’re engineering around.”
Staff got authority to request up to $6 million from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale program, but the cost estimate for the application hasn’t been finalized yet. It will likely fall between $4.5 and $6 million, Gilleran said.
The application will seek funding awarded in fiscal year 2028, which won’t start until July 1, 2027.
That means construction won’t begin until well after the town’s East Spring Street improvements wrap up. That project — which will widen the Herndon Parkway intersection, install a two-way cycle track on Herndon Parkway, and add crosswalks, sidewalks and traffic signals — is slated to finish in 2025.
The town is also still working with Sunset Business Park to update its signage. The condominium association that governs the property first floated plans for a rebranding and renovation in summer 2022, but the process has been complicated by the town’s zoning rules and the unusual organization of the business park, which has an overall association and individual condo associations for each building, according to Gilleran.
At least one initial “struggle” appears to have been resolved after the town’s zoning administrator decided that a business in Sunset Business Park could have a sign on Herndon Parkway, even though it doesn’t directly face that street, Gilleran said. Research indicated that the condo buildings at 459 and 465 Herndon Parkway were originally part of the same subdivision as the business park.
“With that, the zoning administrator believes that’s adequate to afford them a shared sign,” Gilleran said.
Councilmember Donielle Scherff stressed the need to communicate any planned changes to all stakeholders, including the different building owners and business owners and managers, not just the main condo association.
“If we can make a concerted effort to make sure that we get out to those businesses to let them know what’s happening, I would appreciate that,” she said.
Built in the 1970s, Sunset Business Park is home to Weird Brothers Coffee, NextStop Theatre Company, Enatye Ethiopian Restaurant and many other locally owned businesses.
