Residents are calling on the Fairfax County Park Authority to ensure that a trail is constructed on the south side of a new tunnel in Colvin Run Mill Park.
Construction on the $1.5 million tunnel under Route 7 as part of the widening of Leesburg Pike is currently underway. But the project, which is managed by state officials, lacks a 1,000-foot trail to the south side of the tunnel that would allow residents to walk to the park’s sites in Great Falls, Lake Fairfax and Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail.
In a recent call to action by the Friends of Colvin Run Mill, James Waller described the issue as a a “tunnel to nowhere” and urged members of the nonprofit to ask elected representatives to allocate carryover funds for the project.
Last month, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allocated $15.7 million to the park authority from the fiscal year 2023 budget carryover.
In a statement to FFXnow, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust says he hopes the park authority will use a portion of the carryover funds for the trail.
“The Park Authority, however, is an independent agency with many needs and challenges,” Foust wrote. “I cannot mandate when the Park Authority will allocate funds for the construction of this trail, but I am confident they consider it a priority and are trying to make it happen.”
But carryover funds can only be used for system-wide maintenance projects and not new amenities, according to FCPA spokesperson Benjamin Boxer.
“The carryover funding received from the County is restricted to different uses and will not be a part of this project,” Boxer said.
Boxer said the park authority has authorized up to $200,000 for feasibility, environmental review and design for the future trail project.
“Work is progressing as the studies have been completed and we are entering into the design phase of the project so that when future funding is identified, we will be ready to pursue the project,” Boxer wrote in the statement.
Updated at 4 p.m. on 9/26/2023 — The traffic pattern change at Lewinsville Road and Route 7 has been rescheduled for 5 a.m. on Thursday (Sept. 28), the Virginia Department of Transportation says.
Earlier: One portion of the ongoing project to widen northern Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) is complete.
The revamped Lewinsville Road intersection in the Wolf Trap area will fully open to traffic tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, the Virginia Department of Transportation recently announced.
Final work on the intersection will continue tonight into the morning, in preparation of the new traffic pattern taking effect by 5 a.m.
“Temporary traffic patterns may be in place during the overnight hours between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. while crews complete the transition,” VDOT said. “Please use caution and be alert to directional signage that will be in place to guide drivers through the intersection.”
Under the new configuration, Lewinsville Road has been realigned with the McLean Bible Church’s east entrance on the south side of Route 7. A displaced left-turn lane separates Route 7 traffic headed east onto Lewinsville from westbound Route 7 traffic.
Traffic signals have been placed at both McLean Bible Church entrances, but a new acceleration lane lets drivers from Lewinsville Road turn right onto westbound Route 7 without having to stop at the light, as shown in a simulation video from VDOT.
Under construction since spring 2019, the Route 7 Corridor Improvements Project is widening the roadway from four to six lanes along a nearly 7-mile stretch from Reston Avenue to Jarrett Valley Drive just north of the Dulles Toll Road.
The $313.9 million project is also adding 10-foot-wide, shared-use paths on both sides of the corridor and reconfiguring several intersections, including Lewinsville and Baron Cameron Avenue in Reston.
Work is scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2024.
Whenever Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) gets widened, the new lanes from International Drive in Tysons down to the West Falls Church Metro station area will be reserved exclusively for a future bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan amendment last Tuesday (July 25) incorporating the BRT into the county’s vision for Route 7 and International Drive, a move that enables county staff to pursue funding.
“I do think this is an important movement forward in this project,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said after a public hearing.
The Tysons portion of the Route 7 BRT — which is intended to provide faster, more direct service than a traditional local bus route — is part of a regional system that the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission has been planning for a decade now. The finished route will extend into Falls Church City and Seven Corners, ending at the Mark Center in Alexandria.
For the initial Tysons phase, though, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation has settled on the West Falls Church Metro as the southern endpoint and the Spring Hill Metro station as the northern terminus.
Adhering to an alignment approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2021, the BRT will have nine stops:
- The West Falls Church Metro station
- Westbound Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Chestnut Street
- Patterson Road, near the Tysons Station and Idylwood Plaza shopping centers
- George C. Marshall Drive
- Fashion Blvd, serving Tysons Corner Center
- International Drive and Fletcher Street
- International and Greensboro Drive, next to Tysons Galleria
- International and Lincoln Circle, near the Rotunda Condominiums
- Spring Hill Metro station
Along with establishing the potential stations, the newly approved amendment designates two additional lanes planned for Route 7 from Haycock Road to International Drive as dedicated BRT lanes.
The comprehensive plan recommends expanding Leesburg Pike from four to six lanes between Haycock and the Capital Beltway (I-495) and from six to eight lanes between the Beltway and Route 123. Funds have already been secured to design the Beltway to Route 123 segment. Read More
(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A gas leak has closed Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Beulah Road and Forestville Drive in the Wolf Trap area.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units are currently at the scene and expect to be there for “an extended period of time,” the department said at 11:39 a.m.
“Leesburg Pike is closed in both directions. Please seek alternative routes,” the FCFRD said.
According to the Fairfax County Police Department, the closure may last “several days” as crews make repairs.
A Washington Gas representative says “a third party” hit one of the company’s 6-inch main lines. The location of the line required the intersection to close for repairs.
The “large volume” gas line was hit during construction work on the roadway, according to the FCPD public affairs bureau.
“Due to the scope of the repair ahead, it is estimated that the repair will take several days,” Sgt. Jacob Pearce told FFXnow.
Construction to widen Route 7 from Reston Avenue to Jarrett Valley Drive just north of Tysons has been underway since 2019.
#FCFRD units are on scene of an outside gas leak at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Forestville Drive in the Great Falls area. Crews will be on scene for an extended period of time. Leesburg Pike is closed in both directions. Please seek alternative routes. pic.twitter.com/fAP7Dj6nac
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) July 21, 2023
The road is expected to be closed for several days while the repairs are completed. Please use an alternate route. #FCPD https://t.co/TLmPpuwkKi
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) July 21, 2023
Fairfax County’s plan for bus rapid transit (BRT) service on Route 7 in Tysons sailed through the planning commission last week.
The commissioners recommended on Wednesday (June 21) that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve a comprehensive plan amendment establishing guidelines for the future public transportation system, including the route and station locations.
If the amendment is approved at the board’s scheduled public hearing on July 25, the project will become eligible for funding through the county’s Transportation Priorities Plan and state and regional grants, Fairfax County Department of Transportation senior planner Sean Schweitzer told the planning commission.
“This is for future planning. This is not an immediately funded initiative. It’s also very timely,” Planning Commission Vice Chairman Timothy Sargeant noted, referencing FCDOT’s collaboration with the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission on a larger study that could eventually extend the Route 7 BRT to Alexandria.
Known as Envision Route 7, that study has been underway since 2013 and shifted its focus last fall to a portion of the system that will run through Falls Church City down to Seven Corners.
Because the Tysons section is at a more advanced stage of planning, with an overall route alignment in place since 2021, Fairfax County hopes to initially implement service within Tysons down to the West Falls Church Metro station as a temporary southern terminus.
As shared with the planning commission at a committee meeting on May 11 and with the public at virtual community meetings on June 7 and 8, the Route 7 BRT will serve nine stops in the Tysons area:
- West Falls Church Metro
- Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Chestnut Street
- Patterson Road, near the Tysons Station and Idylwood Plaza shopping centers
- George C. Marshall Drive
- Fashion Blvd, serving Tysons Corner Center
- International Drive and Fletcher Street
- International and Greensboro Drive, next to Tysons Galleria
- International and Lincoln Circle
- Spring Hill Metro station
To give the buses a clear path, since BRT is intended to be faster than a regular local bus service, the county has proposed designating two future lanes on Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) as BRT-exclusive lanes. The service will also repurpose two existing lanes on International Drive to Lincoln Circle.
The buses will occasionally enter mixed traffic at the West Falls Church station and when turning left from International Drive onto Spring Hill Road, where they will use Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes to reach the Metro station.
“We know that the middle of Tysons doesn’t really have too much in the way of transit options,” Schweitzer said. “So, this preferred alignment helps to kind of expand the overall transit network within Tysons and gives people…different modes to use in order to get around Tysons and, ultimately, in the future, to Alexandria.”
FCDOT staff is studying how to incorporate improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians into the project, Schweitzer told the commission. Also to be determined is whether the BRT will keep stopping at the West Falls Church Metro station or stay on Route 7 after service is extended into Falls Church.
Franconia District Commissioner Dan Lagana suggested the county could learn from the existing BRT systems in Arlington and Alexandria when designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, such as wider or raised crosswalks.
“I use and drive by, for example, the Metroway in Alexandria frequently, and…the city has done an outstanding job, Arlington and Alexandria,” Lagana said. “But there are some clear gaps now that we’ve seen it in action and we know crosswalks in the area are insufficient.”
Schweitzer said the county has been collaborating with its neighbors in Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church, including through the Envision Route 7 study.
“We’re making sure all our transit projects and studies are kind of lining up so it can create, in the future, an expansive BRT system and also connect to the West End Metroway as well in Alexandria,” he said.
Plans for a Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Tysons are starting to take more concrete shape, outpacing an ongoing study of the corridor further to the south.
The service will initially launch in Tysons, operating between the Spring Hill and West Falls Church Metro stations, before later expanding into Falls Church and Alexandria, Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff told planning commission members at a May 11 committee meeting.
“Since the northern portion is kind of on a fast track, we would make this the first phase to see how it works,” Sean Schweitzer, a senior transportation planner for FCDOT, said. “It would work in the interim as a closed system until the rest can catch up.”
During the interim phase, the BRT will have nine stops, according to a comprehensive plan amendment proposed by county staff:
- The West Falls Church Metro station
- Westbound Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Chestnut Street
- Patterson Road, near the Tysons Station and Idylwood Plaza shopping cneters
- George C. Marshall Drive
- Fashion Blvd, serving Tysons Corner Center
- International Drive and Fletcher Street
- International and Greensboro Drive, next to Tysons Galleria
- International and Lincoln Circle
- Spring Hill Metro station
In the future, the Fletcher Street station could serve as a transfer point for an “enhanced” Gallows Road transit system, Schweitzer said. A study of that corridor down to Annandale is only just gearing up.
The route follows the preferred alignment along International Drive that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved in 2021. The West Falls Church Metro was chosen as an interim southern terminus so buses can turn around, but the county hasn’t ruled out the possibility of making it a permanent station.
“If [the BRT is] better served by going directly to the Metro station, where it can pick up more passengers versus staying on Route 7, we could make that adjustment and have that be the ultimate alignment,” Fairfax County Transportation Planning Chief Mike Garcia said.
Except for the Metro stations, each stop will have separate platforms for east and westbound travel, staggered to reduce right-of-way needs, according to county staff.
The buses will mostly utilize dedicated median lanes, but they have to join other traffic at the Metro stations and to make the left turn from International Drive to Spring Hill Road. Spring Hill and Tyco roads will have “Business Access and Transit” (BAT) lanes limited to buses and drivers turning into the commercial area east of the Spring Hill Metro station. Read More
For the next few months, drivers will have just one road to reach Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) from Wolf Trap.
The access point at Trap Road is scheduled to close at 7 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) and will remain blocked to traffic until 9 a.m. Saturday (April 22), the Virginia Department of Transportation announced last week.
Drivers will be required to use Towlston Road in order to travel between Route 7 and Trap Road.
“By Saturday, April 22 at 9 a.m., the eastbound lanes of Route 7 will shift to the south, and Trap Road will reopen at Route 7 to incoming traffic,” VDOT said. “Drivers on eastbound Route 7 will be able to turn right onto Trap Road.”
However, Trap Road will remain closed to outgoing traffic, which will still need to use Towlston through this summer. A full reopening is currently anticipated in August, according to VDOT.
The closure is part of the ongoing project to widen Route 7 from four to six lanes along a nearly 7-mile stretch from Reston Avenue to Jarrett Valley Drive. Under construction since 2019, the project is also adding 10-foot-wide shared-use paths on both sides of the roadway and redesigning key intersections.
New traffic patterns necessitated by a reconstruction of the Baron Cameron Avenue intersection will be in place until 5 a.m. Thursday (April 20). The new Lewinsville Road intersection is on track to open in May.
The overall Route 7 widening is expected to be completed by July 31, 2024, according to the project website. It costs an estimated $313.9 million.
The reconstruction of the Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) intersection at Baron Cameron Avenue begins this week in Reston.
Part of a massive project to expand Route 7, the construction will usher in new traffic patterns on the nights of April 10-14 and April 16-20 between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The triple left-turn lanes from westbound Route 7 to Baron Cameron Avenue will be reduced to a single-left turn lane from 8-10 p.m. only. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is in the process of widening a nearly 7-mile stretch of Route 7 between Reston Avenue and Jarrett Valley Drive.
“Please use caution and be alert to vehicles and equipment entering and exiting the work area. All work is weather-dependent and subject to change,” VDOT cautioned in a recent traffic alert.
Between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., drivers on Springvale Road to Baron Cameron Avenue will turn right onto westbound Route 7 and follow a detour route to Reston Parkway and Wiehle Avenue in order to get to Baron Cameron Avenue.
Drivers on Baron Cameron Avenue, Hunter Gate Way and Hunter Mill Road who are trying to reach westbound Route 7 will follow Baron Cameron Avenue westbound to a detour route along Wiehle Avenue and Reston Parkway.
Additionally, all Route 7 eastbound traffic will be reduced to a single-through lane.
Between 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the triple left-turn lanes from westbound Route 7 to Baron Cameron Avenue will be completely closed. Drivers on eastbound Route 7 to Baron Cameron Avenue will use a service road at a nearby car wash to access Baron Cameron Avenue.
The right-turn lane from Baron Cameron Avenue to eastbound Route 7 will remain open at all times.
According to VDOT documentation from a recent meeting, the project is expected to cost roughly $314 million and should wrap up by the end of July next year. Construction began in May 2019.
Key milestones so far include the addition of a left-turn lane from westbound Route 7 to Baron Cameron Avenue, temporary intersection improvements at Towlston Road, and a third through-lane from Riva Ridge Drive to Reston Avenue.
The new Lewinsville Road intersection with a displaced left-run lane from eastbound Route 7 to Lewinsville is expected to open in late May, according to VDOT.
Some transportation projects on the horizon have sparked excitement among the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors over potential transit improvements.
Visualize 2050 is a federally-mandated long-range transportation plan with an emphasis on projects that adhere to new emission reduction goals.
In a meeting of the Board of Supervisors Transportation Committee earlier this month, staff said the county has six projects it’s considering adding to Visualize 2050. The projects have to be considered regionally significant.
- Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
- Orange Line Metrorail Extension
- Yellow Line Metrorail Extension to Hybla Valley
- I-495 Southside Project
- I-95 Counterflow Express Lanes
- Seven Corners
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said the inclusion of Route 7 BRT is a positive step, helping take the project from the conceptual stage to something being actively planned.
“I think it’s really exciting that we’re considering this and I would support BRT 7, “Palchik said. “It brings dedicated bus lanes. We’re talking about reducing congestion and using these roads to more easily have multimodal. I think it’s not super helpful when buses get stuck in traffic for people to give up their cars and opt for the bus.”
The Route 7 BRT proposal would eventually connect Tysons to Alexandria on a new route designed to prioritize public transit. Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said she’s hopeful districts between the two major stops will also benefit.
“Certainly Route 7 BRT will go all along Route 7, coming from Alexandria [in one direction] and Tysons [from the other],” Gross said. “I’m hoping that [Mason District] can be the golden spike.”
Elsewhere in county planning, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk advocated for Metro’s Yellow Line extension down into Hybla Valley.
“That’s in alignment with what we’re doing with bus rapid transit and our Embark Richmond Highway study,” Lusk said. “The goal is that we eventually get to the extension of that Metro line. I just want to advocate for that and put a plug so that it can be considered.”
County staff said there will be two public meetings on the Visualize 2050 plan in April before the project works its way through the bureaucratic process, eventually heading to plan adoption sometime in December 2024.
Police took two people into custody yesterday (Thursday) after a reported armed robbery in Great Falls turned into a dizzying pursuit from Tysons to Herndon and back again.
Officers were called to the Safeway at 9881 Georgetown Pike at 12:05 p.m. for a report of a man and a woman stealing merchandise, the Fairfax County Police Department says. The suspects allegedly pointed a gun as they left the store.
According to the initial police dispatch, the individuals took Tide detergent from the store. The vehicle tag was traced to a man with an outstanding felony warrant for robbery in Prince William County.
“The two left in a car with a child in the backseat. Officers saw the car and attempted a traffic stop that resulted a pursuit,” FCPD spokesperson Sgt. Jacob Pearce said.
Per scanner traffic, the chase began on southbound I-495 (Capital Beltway) at Georgetown Pike before exiting to the westbound Dulles Toll Road toward the airport, as officers asked for a helicopter to assist.
After feinting an exit multiple times in the Reston area, the driver turned off at Centreville Road in Herndon and swung back around to the eastbound toll road. The screech of tires can be heard on the police radio.
“Do not PIT the vehicle,” a supervising officer said, referring to a maneuver used by law enforcement to stop moving vehicles. “At most, try to bring the car to a stop slowly. I do not want any reckless driving behavior to endanger the child’s life inside the car.”
The pursuit continued into the Dulles Toll Road’s airport lanes and exited onto Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), where the driver jumped a curb to cross from the eastbound to the westbound lanes.
After turning onto Trap Road, back onto the toll road, and off at Dolley Madison Blvd in McLean, the chase made its way onto the Beltway and finally ended in the northbound lanes near Lewinsville Road, where the driver was arrested.
📸: Wreck on 495.https://t.co/ZCXBmMXPPj
— Henry Bright (@HCBright10) March 23, 2023
The woman was also taken into custody, according to the FCPD.
“No injuries were sustained as a result of the incident,” Pearce said. “The child is safe and is currently with caregivers. No crashes were reported during the pursuit. Detectives are actively investigating. The names and charges will be released once charged.”
Close to 40 police vehicles were involved in the chase, including both local and state agencies, according to a tipster who said they followed part of the saga on Route 7 and the Dulles Access Road. At one point, an officer said on the radio that there were “too many vehicles” in the pursuit.
Photo via @notaveryh/Twitter. Hat tip to Alan Henney, Henry Bright and KKirkhart.
