Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

News

Woodland Park housing project near Herndon wins planning body’s support

By Scott McCaffrey
Developer Pulte Homes is seeking to add residential buildings to the Caywood at Woodland Park office park in Herndon (via Fairfax County)

A proposal for new housing in the Woodland Park community near Herndon is moving to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday (Nov. 13) to approve the plan by Pulte Homes to put two five-story buildings with 72 total residential units on a parcel near the intersection of the Dulles Access Road and Centreville Road, just north of Sunrise Valley Drive.

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News

Efforts to modernize Route 7 bus service continue, as Metrobus finalizes redesign

By Scott McCaffrey
Metrobus 28A going to Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Efforts to upgrade bus service along the Route 7 corridor from Tysons to Alexandria continue to roll steadily forward, albeit with no recent headline-grabbing advances.

The $518 million initiative dubbed Envision Route 7 appears to be “moving along well,” Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) chair Matt de Ferranti said at the organization’s Nov. 7 meeting.

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News

Vote on planned Dunn Loring elementary school deferred to 2025

By Scott McCaffrey
Dunn Loring Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Final consideration of Fairfax County Public Schools’ proposal to build a new elementary school to serve the Dunn Loring area has been delayed until 2025.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted unanimously yesterday (Wednesday) to defer a vote on its recommendation for the proposal until Jan. 15, which also postpones any final action by the Board of Supervisors.

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News

Fairfax to share final design for joint health and community center redevelopment

By Scott McCaffrey
Willard Center development proposal (via City of Fairfax)

Design work is progressing on a planned redevelopment that will combine Fairfax County’s Joseph Willard Health Center and Fairfax City’s Stacy Sherwood Community Center.

Staff working on the approximately $130 million effort — a joint project of the county and city governments — will detail plans for the final design and construction phase at a forum on Saturday (Nov. 16) from 9 to 11 a.m. at the community center (3740 Blenheim Blvd).

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Countywide

Home-buyer interest remained strong in Fairfax during October

By Scott McCaffrey
A living-room interior (via Francesca Tosolini/Unsplash)

Prospective home-buyers were out in force across Fairfax County last month. But will their interest translate into home sales?

A total of 20,620 home showings took place across Fairfax in October, according to new data from the multiple listing service Bright MLS.

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News

Rider feedback sought on Fairfax Connector changes in Reston and Springfield

By Scott McCaffrey
A Fairfax Connector bus leaves the Reston Town Center Transit Station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is planning more service changes for Fairfax Connector, specifically in the Reston, Herndon, Springfield and Centreville areas of the county.

Set to be discussed at two online community meetings this week, the proposals would serve to increase frequency, realign some service and add a new Route 652. Planned for elimination is Route 599, a rush-hour express service that runs between Reston and the Pentagon, Pentagon City and Crystal City areas of Arlington.

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Countywide

After Trump win, Northern Virginia leaders stress need for dedicated transit funding

By Scott McCaffrey
Metrobus at the Dunn Loring Metro station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Elections have consequences, and now, Northern Virginia leaders are in wait-and-see mode on what those could be for local transit and transportation funding.

The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) board met Thursday (Nov. 7) for the first time since the 2024 general election, when Donald Trump regained the presidency and Republicans took control of at least one chamber of Congress — an unnerving prospect for Northern Virginia’s mostly Democratic political leaders.

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Countywide

Fairfax County leaders debate scope of program to test lower speed limits

By Scott McCaffrey
A 25 mph speed limit sign in a residential neighborhood (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County supervisors remain supportive, in concept, of enacting a pilot program lowering speed limits from 25 mph to 20 mph on some streets.

But the availability of resources to implement a fully countywide program down the road remains an open question.

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News

County board split over possible I-495 toll lanes from Springfield into Maryland

By Scott McCaffrey
I-495 "Southside Express" HOT-lanes proposal (via Virginia Department of Transportation)

Virginia’s plan to widen I-495 with privately financed, toll-based express lanes in the Woodrow Wilson Bridge corridor continues to get a decidedly mixed reception from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

On one side of the debate, Board Chairman Jeff McKay believes the project is “essential,” but he conceded at a meeting of the board’s transportation committee last Tuesday (Oct. 29) that “not everyone feels that way.”

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News

Plan to demolish Dunn Loring building for new elementary school draws objections

By Scott McCaffrey
Dunn Loring Elementary School design (via Fairfax County Public Schools)

Fairfax County school officials will try again this month to win planning commission support for the proposed new Dunn Loring Elementary School.

“Clearly, we need to do a little more work — [to] get all the pieces right,” Providence District Planning Commissioner Jeremy Hancock said last Wednesday (Oct. 30) after more than two hours of presentations, discussion and public comment.

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