Dalia Palchik | FFXnow

County board seeks answers on uncertain timeline for Route 7 bus rapid transit

Published December 14, 2023 at 10:15AM | Updated June 24, 2024 at 6:29PM

Bus shelters at the Spring Hill Metro station, which will be the northern terminus of the planned Route 7 bus rapid transit system (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 9:25 a.m. on 12/15/2023) The long-running effort to bring bus rapid transit (BRT) service to Route 7 is about to enter a new stage of planning, but for some Fairfax County leaders, the milestone doubles as a reminder of how much more still needs to be done to turn Northern Virginia’s vision into a reality.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement at its Dec. 5 meeting to help fund an engineering study and environmental analysis required to implement the bus system, which will serve the corridor from the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons to the Mark Center in Alexandria.

News

County to consider mixed-use development for former ICF office buildings in Oakton

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 29, 2023 at 11:00AM | Updated January 3, 2024 at 11:48AM

The Hunters Branch office buildings, formerly home to ICF International, in Oakton (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) After initially holding off, Fairfax County is now ready to consider allowing a redevelopment of the former ICF International headquarters in Oakton.

At Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik’s request, the Board of Supervisors authorized county staff on Nov. 21 to craft a comprehensive plan amendment that would open the door for residential or mixed-use development at the Hunters Branch office buildings (9300 and 9302 Route 29).

News

Road diet and bicycle lanes proposed near Dunn Loring Metro station

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 24, 2023 at 11:00AM

Prosperity Avenue outside a Dunn Loring Metro station parking lot (via Google Maps)

Fairfax County is designing a new layout for Prosperity Avenue near the Dunn Loring Metro station.

The new configuration will reduce the roadway from four to two lanes by adding a road diet and protected bicycle lanes between Gallows Road and Prosperity Metro Plaza, the two-building office center whose tenants include U.S. Customs and Immigration Services’ D.C. field office.

News

Emergency repairs needed to prevent Shreve Road sewer pipe collapse

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 29, 2023 at 2:15PM

The location of a sewer pipe on Shreve Road undergoing emergency repairs (via Dalia Palchik/Twitter)

A hole was recently found in a sewer pipe along Shreve Road in Idylwood, necessitating emergency repairs that started yesterday (Wednesday).

The issue was discovered during a “routine inspection” of the pipe, which carries wastewater from 34 homes and Shrevewood Elementary School, according to the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.

News

Winter clothing donation drive starts today in the Providence District

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 19, 2022 at 1:30PM

A snow-covered mitten holds a paper heart (via Eli Pluma on Unsplash)

Winter is coming, and with temperatures projected to top out in the 30s and low 40s next week, staying warm will soon become even more of a challenge for many Fairfax County residents.

To help those in need get through the season, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik’s office will launch a winter clothes drive today (Monday), collecting coats, gloves and hats of all sizes for donation to local shelters.

News

NEW: A pedestrian crossing on Route 123 from Tysons Corner Center is in the works

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 13, 2022 at 1:30PM

The intersection of Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and Tysons Blvd outside Tysons Corner Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Talks are underway to design a street-level crossing across Route 123 at Tysons Blvd, a daunting challenge that would — at least in theory — improve access to Tysons Corner Center for pedestrians, bicyclists and others.

Fairfax County, the Virginia Department of Transportation and Macerich, the mall owner and developer, are currently hashing out an agreement for the crossing as an alternative to the existing pedestrian bridge that links the mall’s plaza to the Tysons Metro station on the other side of Route 123, also known as Chain Bridge Road.

Around Town

Tysons student theater group books Congressional cameo for ‘Christmas Carol’

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 9, 2022 at 1:30PM

Traveling Players Ensemble, a student theater company based in Tysons, performs "Commedia Christmas Carol" (photo by Alex Mountfield)

Rep. Gerry Connolly will put his experience dealing with Scrooges on Capitol Hill to the test tomorrow when he takes the stage for a youth production of “Commedia Christmas Carol.”

The congressman and Providence District Supervisior Dalia Palchik will join student actors with the Traveling Players Ensemble for their take on the Charles Dickens holiday classic at 8 p.m., the Tysons-based theatrical company announced earlier this week.

Countywide

With 23 pedestrians dead, advocates call for action to make Fairfax County roads safer

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 22, 2022 at 11:45AM | Updated December 5, 2022 at 10:41AM

Each candle represents a pedestrian killed in a crash in Fairfax County this year (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 10:40 a.m. on 12/5/2022) Even with one month left, 2022 is the deadliest year for Fairfax County pedestrians in more than a decade.

Through October, vehicle crashes have killed 22 people on streets and highways in the county — the most since at least 2010, the earliest year in Virginia’s Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS). The previous high came in 2018 and 2019, when there were 17 fatalities each.

News

Providence Community Center to be renamed after former Supervisor Jim Scott

By Matt Blitz

Published November 1, 2022 at 10:30AM

Providence Community Center (file photo)

The Providence Community Center is set to be renamed after former Fairfax County Board Supervisor and House Delegate James M. Scott.

At last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Providence Supervisor Dalia Palchik introduced a board matter initiating the process of renaming the Providence Community Center in Oakton after Scott.

News

County takes key step to prepare for redevelopment of Fairfax’s Judicial Complex

By Fatimah Waseem

Published October 20, 2022 at 11:45AM

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik directed to staff to submit a plan amendment to move redevelopment forward (Photo via Fairfax County Government).

Fairfax County is considering updating its comprehensive plan to incorporate new housing and other public facilities in the Judicial Complex, a nearly 48-acre portion land surrounded by the City of Fairfax that is slated for redevelopment.

Home to the county’s circuit, general district and juvenile courts as well as the Historic Fairfax County Courthouse, the county jail, and volunteer organizations, the complex underwent a master planning process that concluded in January 2021, kicking off implementation of a 20-year plan.