Weekly Column: Embark Ushers in a New Phase for U.S. 1

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of March 26, 2018.

Embark Ushers in a New Phase for U.S. 1

Last week, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Embark Route 1 comprehensive plan revision, a step that lays the groundwork for development over the next 30-40 years for the seven miles of U.S. 1 between the Huntington Metro Station and Fort Belvoir.  This plan, reflecting several years of community input, has significant implications for both Fairfax and Prince William Counties.

When I was elected to the House of Delegates in 2009, efforts to reach consensus for a Fairfax County, U.S. 1 road design had frozen during work on the U.S. 1 Centerline Study, issued by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in January, 2010 after a 15-year process.  Prince William County was planning a series of U.S. 1 redesigns while Fairfax County’s decision-making had stalled after disputes arose about incorporating transit into redesigns and right-of-way impacts.  Then-Congressman Jim Moran had secured $180 million to expand U.S. 1 to six lanes in Fort Belvoir, but that expansion would create a bottleneck at Jeff Todd Way.

Weekly Column: Successes in the State Legislature

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of March 12, 2018.

Successes in the State Legislature
Last week brought an end to the regular 2018 session of the General Assembly. Once again, I had some significant successes. The legislature sent 13 of my 61 bills to Governor Northam for his signature. Legislators continued 15 to 2019 for studies and referred several to agencies for administrative consideration.

While several of my budget amendments were included in the Senate budget, including the funding the first staff at brand new Widewater State Park in Stafford, we unfortunately adjourned without adopting a biennial budget due to the Senate Republican Caucus’s refusal to include Medicaid expansion into their budget. Budget discussions have completely stalled out and Governor Northam will call us into special session at some point in the next two months.

Spring 2018 Status of U.S. 1 Improvements

This morning, the "U.S. 1 Delegation" consisting of myself, Senator Ebbin, and Delegates Krizek and Sickles met with the project team with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to talk about the status of the U.S. 1 widening and bus rapid transit in anticipation of our next public hearing.

First, Fairfax County's process to implement the state-funded U.S. 1 Multimodal Alternative Analysis Study will come to a conclusion when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will vote to approve the Comprehensive Plan changes developed as part of the EMBARK Richmond Highway Process on March 20, 2018.  This plan will lay the groundwork for the next thirty years in our community.  You can get more information here:

EMBARK Richmond Highway - Plan Amendment 2015-IV-MV1

The County is in the process of developing its application for federal transit funding under the New Starts Program to fund approximately fifty-percent of the cost of bus rapid transit (BRT) from Huntington Metro to Fort Belvoir.

Kingtowne/Beluah Corridor Monthly Column: 2018 Session Wrap Up

The following will appear in next month's Kingstonian Magazine and Beulah Corridor monthly magazine.

This year, I had a relatively successful session.  I passed 13-14 pieces of legislation including bills to lower fees for security freezes on credit reports, facilitate child testimony at abuse proceedings, provide juvenile court judges discretion to reduce charges if children rehabilitate, allow courts to withhold for spousal support, providing local government funds for commercial transit corridor utility undergrounding, and education children about the dangers of sexting. 

My bill to raise Virginia’s lowest-in-nation misdemeanor-felony threshold passed after putting the bill in for nine years.  Also, my bill to extend our coal ash study process for twelve months so we can clarify how many billions of dollars the coal ash remediation process will cost before choosing a method.

Weekly Column: Underground Utilities, Transportation Solutions Get Attention

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of March 4, 2018.

Underground Utilities, Transportation Solutions Get Attention

The second to last week of the General Assembly session brought a conclusion to most committee work in the legislature, passage of several important bills and a fierce wind storm. 

On Friday, a powerful wind storm struck Virginia and inflicted millions of dollars in damage to people and property, far more harm than most people anticipated.    Many people lost electricity, some for several days.  According to Dominion Energy, it was the fifth worst power outage in company history after Hurricanes Isabel, Floyd, Irene and the 2012 Derecho. 

The mass destruction reaffirms my view that we need to invest in utility undergrounding immediately.  The newer developed parts of Northern Virginia where power lines are underground did not suffer outages and while undergrounding is expensive, the disruption of people’s lives has great value also.

Powerful Nor’Easter Moving Through 36th District (UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

A powerful wind storm is causing damage across Northern Virginia and the 36th District. 

Dominion reported that 224,000 customers were without power this morning.

Here are couple important tips, websites and numbers to keep you safe: