By Brian Trompeter
Fairfax County supervisors on April 11 were expected to approve $22,508,830 in funding for active-transportation projects that would upgrade the county’s pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.
The projects, which were included on an updated Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) maintenance project list, include:
• $300,000 in additional funds for two existing pedestrian-improvement projects in McLean, one at Beverly Road and Old Dominion Drive and the other at Elm Street at Old Dominion Drive.
• $4,450,000 for new “low-cost” crosswalk projects that initially had been considered for funding, but were not.
• $15,695,000 for priority active-transportation projects at:
– Lockheed Boulevard from Hybla Valley Elementary School to Huntley Meadows Park (including a connection along Harrison Lane).
• Gum Springs Trail (a Park Authority project).
– A sidewalk along westbound Route 7 from Magnolia Avenue across the Liberty gas station’s frontage at 5930 Leesburg Pike.
– Vale Road and Flint Hill Road crosswalk improvements near Flint Hill Elementary School.
– Blake Lane and Bel Glade Street crosswalk improvements.
– Columbia Pike and Tyler Street crosswalk improvements.
– Lorton Station Boulevard and Potomac Bend/Harrover Place crosswalk improvements.
– Preliminary design for the Tuttle Road trail connection.
– Rolling Road and Grigsby Drive crosswalk improvements near West Springfield High School.
– Fair Lakes Boulevard and Sedghurst Drive crosswalk improvements.
– Projects from West Falls Church Metro area and Huntington Metro area active-transportation studies.
– Saint Germain Drive and Machen Road intersection improvements.
– Eskridge Road crosswalk improvements.
• $870,000 for consultant support, including the project-prioritization process, project scoping for funded projects and “road diet” studies for the summer 2023 and summer 2024 repaving cycles.
• $400,000 for additional Park Authority trail maintenance, including needed replacements of pedestrian bridges.
• A $793,830 contingency for project-cost Increases and future local-cash matches for grant applications.
Board of Consider Free Fairfax Connector Rides for Youths 12 and Under: Children 12 and younger who are accompanied by a paying adult will be able to ride Fairfax Connector buses for free, starting May 1, if the Board of Supervisors authorizes the policy change April 11.
The policy change does not limit the number of children present who could take advantage of the free rides.
Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff last December outlined the implications of such free Fairfax Connector fares at the Board of Supervisors’ Transportation Committee meeting. The bus system also grants free fares to students, seniors and people with disabilities and allows free transfers to and from Metrobuses and the Metrorail system.
Fairfax Connector previously let up to two children ages 4 and younger ride for free if accompanied by an adult paying full fare, with children 5 and older also paying the entire fare.
County staff hosted a Feb. 23 public meeting to get public feedback on the proposed change. Free fares for children 12 and younger will reduce barriers to accessing transit services by communities of color and low-income households, staff said in the item’s equity statement.
The fare-policy change will have a “negligible” effect on Fairfax Connector revenues – an estimated $50,000 decrease in fiscal 2024 – because it applies to less than 1 percent of the bus system’s ridership, officials said.
Supervisors to OK Bond Issuance for Inova Capital Projects: Fairfax County supervisors on April 11 were set to authorize the county’s Industrial Development Authority to issue health-care revenue bonds periodically to support capital projects undertaken by Inova Health System.
The bonds will pay for outstanding indebtedness and the financing and refinancing of new projects in Fairfax County.
Some of the bond proceeds will be used to finance and refinance the cost of constructing, renovating and equipping capital projects at Inova facilities in Fairfax, Fair Oaks and Mount Vernon.
Improvements at Inova Fairfax Medical Center Campus include relocation of several hospital units; renovation and repair of elevators and escalators; and construction and renovation of ambulatory surgical facilities, laboratories, the Inova Heart and Vascular Care unit and other areas of the campus.
Upgrades planned for the Inova Fair Oaks campus include renovation and replacement of air-handling units. At the Inova Mount Vernon Campus, the health system plans to fit out shell space for a new behavioral-health unit, modernize elevators and install a new air-chiller system.
Inova also plans to make additional routine or miscellaneous capital-improvements, additions, renovations and equipment purchases at all of the above locations, including buying medical and information-technology equipment.
Inova’s revenues will support the bonds, which will not constitute a debt obligation to the county or the Board of Supervisors, county staff said.
Supervisors to Authorize Flood-Related Grant Agreements: The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on April 11 was expected to authorize acceptance of a pair of flood-related grant agreements with the Virginia Resources Authority (VRA).
• One of the agreements stipulates that the county government and VRA each contribute $320,000 for the design and construction of the County Regulated Floodplain Map Updates Project.
The state’s grant moneys would come from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF), which was established to “provide support for regions and localities across Virginia, to reduce the impacts of flooding, including flooding driven by climate change,” county officials said.
The floodplain-map project will consolidate multiple flood-hazard-data sources into a comprehensive map for regulatory use, increase community flood-risk awareness and integrate climate-change impacts into the floodplain-management program, officials said.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services’ Stormwater Business Area also will develop a map to identify communities in the county that may be more susceptible to flooding, which officials will consult when identifying and prioritizing future flood-mitigation projects and CFPF grant applications.
• Supervisors also were expected to authorize an agreement with VRA to obtain a CFPF grant award of $4,894,000 for construction of the Tucker Avenue Stormwater Improvement Project in Dranesville District.
The county would provide a $3,262,700 match to finance the rest of the project’s $8,156,700 estimated cost.
Supervisors needed to act on both grant requests because they had to be executed by the county and returned to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation by May 1. Neither grant would require the county government to create any new job positions.
Supervisors to OK Bonds for Affordable-Housing Project in Tysons: The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) will be able to issue up to $99 million in tax-exempt, private-activity revenue bonds to support part of a Tysons affordable-housing project, if the Board of Supervisors grants its expected assent April 11.
The bonds would finance the 265-unit Dominion North Four Project of the proposed Dominion Square development at 1592 Spring Hill Road. FCRHA officials on Feb. 24, 2022, entered into a final-development agreement with Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing to develop the site.
The North Four Project’s building would constitute about half of the overall development. The South Four Building would have 251 units. Both buildings would provide affordable multi-family housing for households with incomes at or below 60 percent of area median income.
FCRHA would serve as a “conduit” provider of tax-exempt financing for the North Four Project, which would be financed via a separate construction loan from a to-be-determined construction lender. The bonds would be 100-percent cash-collateralized and have no risk to the FCRHA, Fairfax taxpayer or bondholders, officials said.
