Escalating costs have convinced an advisory board that Fairfax County should scale back its ambitions for funding transportation projects with special taxes collected from Reston property owners.
The Reston Transportation Service District Advisory Board voted at its Sept. 16 meeting to recommend taking three intersection improvement projects out of consideration for funding from the service district:
For any drivers who’ve endured bumper-to-bumper traffic on Chain Bridge Road or pedestrians wishing they could walk from Oakton Shopping Center to the Oakton Library without risking life and limb, an opportunity has arrived to contribute to a potential solution.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is inviting members of the public to share their ideas for addressing traffic congestion and safety issues in Oakton at a community workshop that will be held tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. at Oakton High School (2900 Sutton Road).
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) on Thursday (Nov. 6) gave its support to two transit-funding initiatives currently working their way through a complex review process.
With no dissents, the commission signaled its backing of recommendations of the DMV Moves task force and the General Assembly’s Northern Virginia Growing Needs of Public Transit Joint Subcommittee, also known as the SJ28 Subcommittee after the state Senate resolution that established it.
A state legislative panel set up to identify potential new funding for Northern Virginia transit completed its work this week by delivering a firm starting number: $400 million annually.
But the panel opted against prioritizing which funding streams would work best as it readied its report for consideration during the 2026 General Assembly session.
Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (Oct. 28) took steps to acquire private property needed for construction of the Richmond Highway bus rapid transit (BRT) project.
With three members absent and one seat vacant, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-0 to authorize county staff to move forward with filing paperwork in court allowing for the condemnation and acquisition of property needed for utility relocation as the nearly billion-dollar project begins to move from planning to construction.
Virginia’s state and local governments would be required to come up with $136 million annually in additional funding for Metro rail and bus service starting in mid-2027, if recommendations from a key regional task force make it through a still-uncertain future.
The DMV Moves task force approved a nonbinding framework yesterday (Wednesday) for increased, dedicated capital spending in support of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). It recommends $460 million in additional funding split between Virginia, Maryland and D.C., starting in fiscal year 2028 and rising after that at a rate of 3% per year.
Regional transportation planners continue to take the pulse of riders and other local residents as they prepare for a major revamp of the Route 7 bus corridor.
“It’s a good thing” to be out in the community, said Kate Mattice, executive director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC), which is overseeing a study that could bring bus rapid transit (BRT) service to the corridor from Tysons to Alexandria.
A key regional planning body voted today (Wednesday) to defer until at least 2026 any further consideration of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s plan to extend express lanes on the south side of the Capital Beltway (I-495) across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and into Maryland.
“The project is simply not ready,” said Eric Olson, a member of the Prince George’s County Council who sits on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board (TPB).
Fairfax County is considering exercising its eminent domain powers to advance a sidewalk project on Columbia Pike.
During its meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the Board of Supervisors authorized a Nov. 18 public hearing to acquire easements to property needed to make the improvements on a stretch of Columbia Pike in Annandale.
An $18.4 million project to reduce congestion and improve safety on a nearly mile-long portion of Jermantown Road has been more than half a decade in the making. Now, an updated proposal is finally ready for public viewing.
Presented to the Fairfax City Council at a work session on Oct. 7, the project calls for a number of new turn lanes, enhanced markings for pedestrians, and tighter management of access to the roads.
