The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has found itself aligned with the Trump administration on one issue: the need to update the American Legion Bridge.
The span over the Potomac River connecting Fairfax County with Montgomery County, Maryland, is “a critical transportation link,” but at more than 60 years old, it needs immediate attention, Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said when the board met on Tuesday (Feb. 3).
Post-pandemic commuting trends appear to be stabilizing in the D.C. region, with workers spending more days at the office, but remote work remains prevalent.
“We seem to be approaching a much more settled ‘new normal,'” Dan Sheehan, transportation operations program director for the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) said at a Jan. 21 meeting, where staff unveiled the new State of the Commute report.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is seeking public input on potential changes to a key connection between Burke Centre and Fairfax County parkways.
An online survey open through next Wednesday (Jan. 21) asks community members to weigh in on proposed modifications to a half-mile stretch of Roberts Parkway, including the addition of a shared-use path and redesigns of the Burke Centre Parkway and Fairfax County Parkway intersections.
Recommendations for safety, transit, cyclist and pedestrian improvements on South Van Dorn Street in Franconia will be open for public review later this month.
After soliciting considerable public input last year, the Virginia Department of Transportation has outlined improvement alternatives for the 2.5-mile stretch of roadway in the South Van Dorn Street STARS Study (Strategically Targeted Affordable Roadway Solutions).
A key Tysons leader is working to ensure state leaders provide dedicated new funding for transit that she says will help the region thrive.
“Transit in Northern Virginia is cool again,” said Katie Cristol, CEO of the Tysons Community Alliance.
Virginia’s transportation system is massive, with about 129,000 lane miles of roads and roughly 5,900 miles of rail criss-crossing the commonwealth, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation and a 2022 Virginia Statewide Rail Plan.
There’s always some kind of improvement or expansion underway, leaving drivers and commuters wondering when relief will arrive.
Like many local and state officials in Virginia, the Trump administration appears to be growing impatient with a perceived lack of progress by Maryland to replace the American Legion Memorial Bridge.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week (Dec. 9) that the Federal Highway Administration will seek feedback and proposals on ways to accelerate the delivery of a new bridge in the hopes of relieving congestion on the Capital Beltway (I-495/I-270).
Despite political drawbacks, a sales-tax surcharge across Northern Virginia could end up being the main source to increase transit funding in the coming year.
Increasing the sales tax regionally is “probably going to be looked at,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said in a Dec. 4 legislative forum sponsored by the Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA).
Local governments like Fairfax County can expect “increased costs, decreased federal support and decreased local autonomy” as the Trump administration works to further implement its agenda in 2026.
That was the analysis of Mark Ritacco, chief government-affairs officer of the National Association of Counties (NACo), who was among those laying out expectations for the coming year to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
With a recently awarded grant, Fairfax County can begin designing protected bicycle facilities along Sunrise Valley Drive near the Innovation Center Metro station, the latest effort to make the roadway more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.
At its Nov. 19 meeting, the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) unanimously approved $84,000 for the Sunrise Valley Drive Protected Bicycle Infrastructure project as part of its fiscal year 2026-2027 Transit Within Reach program.
