The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) is seeking public input on several projects vying for inclusion in its six-year funding program.
The biggest request by far comes from Fairfax County, which applied for $587.2 million to fund four major projects — more than the other eight localities participating in the fiscal year 2024-2029 Six-Year Program combined.
“With funding requests totaling nearly $1 billion, the projects cover various transportation modes including transit, rail, roadway enhancements, technology, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and intersection/interchange improvements,” the NVTA said in a press release.
Leading the way among Fairfax County’s requests is a multimodal improvements project that would expand about one mile of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) between the Capital Beltway (I-495) and I-66 in the Pimmit Hills area.
Adding one lane in each direction, the project is intended to make room for the planned Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which will initially travel between the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons and the West Falls Church Metro station. Ultimately, regional and local officials hope to extend the service down to the Mark Center in Alexandria.
In the Pimmit Hills portion of Route 7, the buses will travel in dedicated lanes in the median. Shared-use paths on both sides of the road and improvements at five signalized intersections would also be implemented, according to NVTA’s description of the project.
“The separation of vehicular traffic and the installation of shared use paths will create a safer environment that is accessible to all users,” NVTA says. “The future implementation of BRT will enhance regional sustainability by reducing congestion and getting more people out of automobiles.”
The county is seeking $210 million in regional funding from NVTA for the project, which carries a total estimated cost of $244.4 million.
Other projects submitted by Fairfax County include:
- Frontier Drive Extension (nearly $165 million requested): The road would be extended from the Franconia-Springfield Metro station to Loisdale Road, accompanied by new, separated pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
- Seven Corners Ring Road ($122 million): The first segment of the planned road would add “travel lanes, a bi-directional cycletrack, and parking lanes” from the westbound Arlington Blvd (Route 50) ramp to Leesburg Pike (Route 7).
- Braddock Road Multimodal Improvements ($90 million): The second phase of the project calls for shared-use paths, High-Intensity Activated crosswalk beacons, trail connections and other intersection improvements from Humphries Drive to Southampton Drive near Kings Park.
In addition, the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has asked for $6.1 million to upgrade its Backlick Road station (6900 Hechinger Drive) in Springfield, including by building a longer, 300-foot platform that can fit eight-car trains.
Updated every two years, NVTA’s six-year programs are supported by sales and grantors’ taxes, the state’s Northern Virginia Transportation District Fund and the Interstate Operations and Enhancement Program. The authority is required to devote 70% of its revenue to regional projects, while the remaining 30% goes directly to its localities.
Public comments on the FY 2024-2029 program are being accepted online, by phone (703-947-7606) and by mail until 11:59 p.m. on May 19. A public hearing will be held at NVTA’s offices (2600 Park Tower Drive, Suite 601, Vienna) at 7 p.m. on May 9.
Two Reston men are facing multiple charges — including attempted murder in one case — after allegedly getting involved in police pursuits on the Capital Beltway last Thursday (March 7).
The first chase began around 9:54 p.m. when a Virginia State Police trooper moved to stop a Jeep Cherokee SRT for reckless driving on I-495 near S. Van Dorn Street in Rose Hill, according to the VSP.
“The Cherokee refused to stop for the trooper and a pursuit was initiated,” state police said. “During the course of the pursuit, the driver of the Jeep threw a firearm out the window. The firearm struck the ground and then the trooper’s vehicle.”
After the chase got off the Beltway, the driver hit the trooper’s vehicle with the Jeep at the Braddock Road and Twinbrook Road intersection in the Kings Park West area, the VSP said. The Jeep ultimately came to a stop on Twinbrook Road.
The driver — identified by police as Jevon T. Mark, 23, of Reston — was taken into custody and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, eluding police, throwing missiles, reckless driving and one felony count of hit and run.
Police also detained and released two passengers in the vehicle, and the gun reportedly thrown out of the Jeep was found.
“The incident remains under investigation,” the VSP said.
The second high-speed chase of the night came less than an hour later. At 10:45 p.m., the VSP were alerted by a Maryland law enforcement agency to a stolen 2015 Chevrolet traveling across the American Legion Bridge into Virginia.
When a state trooper attempted to initiate a traffic stop on I-495 near Braddock Road, the driver refused and sped away at a high rate of speed, the VSP said. State police attempted to bring the vehicle to a stop near the Glebe Road exit in Arlington using a “pursuit intervention technique.”
Though fuzzy, a traffic camera video captured by public safety watcher Dave Statter shows the vehicle careening into a ditch by the exit ramp.
According to the VSP, the driver crawled into the trunk of the vehicle to try and hide from the troopers, who took him into custody without incident.
During the pursuit, the car rammed into one of the trooper’s cars. The trooper suffered minor injuries.
Abiselome Belachew, a 21-year-old Reston resident, has been charged with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, one felony count of hit-and-run for hitting the trooper’s vehicle, one felony count of eluding police, auto theft and driving on a suspended license.
A driver died after crashing their vehicle west of George Mason University’s Fairfax campus shortly after midnight on Saturday (Feb. 25).
The crash occurred at the Braddock Road and Fairfax County Parkway intersection, the Fairfax County Police Department reported at 12:11 a.m. that day.
The vehicle was driven into a traffic signal pole, according to a police spokesperson.
The driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, died at the scene. Westbound Braddock Road was closed at the intersection until around 3:30 a.m. as detectives investigated the crash.
Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit continue to investigate. Braddock Rd is now open. Follow our blog, https://t.co/XTgRJykwD5, for updates when available.
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) February 25, 2023
It was the third fatal crash not involving pedestrians on county roads so far in 2023 after the FCPD announced on Friday (Feb. 24) that the passenger on a one-vehicle crash in Annandale on Jan. 27 has died from his injuries.
The year’s first non-pedestrian fatal crash came on Jan. 10, when a Lexus drove off Lee Chapel Road in Fairfax Station, killing two teens and hospitalizing a third. A driver also died after crashing into a jersey wall on the I-495 Express Lanes last week.
There had been no non-pedestrian fatalities at this point in the year in 2022, according to the FCPD. No pedestrian fatalities have been reported so far this year, as indicated by state data.
Image via Google Maps
The Fairfax County Police Department’s motor squad encountered an emergency of its own while responding to an incident early this afternoon.
A motorcycle officer was seriously injured in a collision with a Jeep on Braddock Road that police believe was attempting to get out of the squad’s way, FCPD Public Affairs Bureau Commander Lt. Dan Spital said at a media briefing.
“Our officer had serious injuries,” Spital said. “At this point, he’s conscious and alert. We’re praying first for recovery for him, but we’re lucky it wasn’t more serious than it could’ve been.”
According to Spital, the motor officers were traveling west on Braddock near George Mason University’s Fairfax campus in response to an emergency situation elsewhere in Fairfax County.
When they passed through the Roanoke River Road intersection shortly after 12:30 p.m., a silver Jeep in the middle lane noticed the police lights and sirens and started to merge into the right lane, where two officers were riding.
“One of the officers was able to avoid the vehicle that cut in front of them. Unfortunately, one of our motor officers was unable to avoid a collision,” Spital said. “A motor officer did strike the back of a Jeep and was thrown from his motorcycle, and he hit the pavement.”
Officers are on scene of crash involving an FCPD motor officer at Braddock Rd & Roanoke River Rd. Officer taken to hospital with serious injuries. Braddock Rd is closed. Please use another route. pic.twitter.com/UT8Hfq7PbR
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 9, 2022
The injured officer was transported to a hospital, where police say his condition has stabilized. He is a veteran of the FCPD motor squad with at least 16 to 17 years of experience in the department, according to Spital.
Spital said the Jeep driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. Police are also interviewing other witnesses to the crash to determine the circumstances that led up to it, though the FCPD seems to preliminarily believe that the driver wasn’t intentionally cutting off its officers.
Police haven’t determined yet whether the driver is a GMU student or why they were traveling in the area.
“Before we can make any determination on fault at this point, we do have to make sure that everybody is interviewed and we come up with a larger picture of exactly what took place,” Spital said.
Spital said he’s “not aware” of the Braddock/Roanoke River intersection being considered dangerous. Virginia data shows one other crash there this year in January and multiple crashes with injuries in previous years, but no fatalities have been reported since the interactive data report began in 2010.
A motorcyclist has died after crashing on Braddock Road near the Fairfax area almost a month ago, the Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Wednesday).
Sterling resident Brian Perry was riding a 2007 Kawasaki motorcycle, traveling east on Braddock on June 29. Around 6:17 p.m., he reached a section of road near the Fairfax County Parkway intersection that transitioned from pavement to milled asphalt, lost control of the bike and crashed, police say.
“Perry was taken to a hospital and on July 12 succumbed to his injuries,” the FCPD said. He was 63 years old.
The crash remains under investigation by the department’s Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives, but speed and alcohol are not believed to have been factors in the crash.
Perry is the seventh non-pedestrian to die from a vehicle crash in Fairfax County this year, according to the FCPD. The county had recorded five such fatalities by this point in 2021.
This year’s sixth non-pedestrian fatality was also a motorcyclist. The crash occurred on July 3 when Nema Mirsaeedi, 31, of Springfield was thrown from his bike upon colliding with a car on Burke Center Parkway.
On May 22, a motorcyclist was hospitalized by a crash with a vehicle at the intersection of Braddock Road and Second Road in the Fairfax area.
The FCPD says anyone with information about the June 29 crash can contact the Crash Reconstruction Unit at 703-280-0543. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
“Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1,000 dollars,” the FCPD said. “Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.”
Fairfax County drivers are no strangers to potholes during the winter, but residents felt conditions were becoming especially egregious along a stretch of Braddock Road in Lincolnia, including near Parklawn Elementary School.
After airing their concerns on Nextdoor, they turned to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Residents noticed this week that at least one large pothole was filled in.
“There was a large major pothole (the Grand Canyon) for weeks, which I noticed just today was filled,” resident Steph Bates told FFXnow on Tuesday (March 8). “I drive that stretch each day, and there are many, many smaller potholes still.”
People can report concerns to the Commonwealth by calling 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623) to report any maintenance issues or fill out a form at my.vdot.virginia.gov.
“We are aware of the issues along Braddock Road,” VDOT spokesperson Ellen Kamilakis said in an email. “Crews have been out this week patching potholes.”
VDOT encourages people to contact its Customer Service Center about road issues. Kamilakis said pothole repair work there is continuing.
VDOT maintains roads throughout most of the Commonwealth, including interstates and primary routes. Other roads are maintained by cities, towns and some counties.
Adopted by the General Assembly in 1932, the Byrd Road Act permitted counties to pass responsibility to Virginia’s Highway Commission, later renamed the Commonwealth Transportation Board. Four counties chose to retain their authority, but only Arlington and Henrico counties have maintained that decision.
Resident Carolyn Spencer, who submitted a maintenance ticket, thinks VDOT is responsive, especially with quick fixes and Americans with Disabilities Act issues.
“I’m a big believer in telling people when I notice something wrong,” Spencer told FFXnow. “If nobody reports problems, they will never get fixed.”
But for more in-depth policy and planning issues, such as concerns about traffic back-ups, inquiries can involve contractors and end up unanswered, she wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear when and whether VDOT plans to repave the portion of Braddock Road under scrutiny.
“That stretch seems worse than other places I drive,” Bates wrote, adding that problems are “on both sides of the yellow line, with very narrow ability to dodge.”
