Investing in Southeast Fairfax Infrastructure

 Today, Delegates Kathy Tran and Paul Krizek joined me to submit a request to our federal
representatives for infrastructure investments in the U.S. 1 corridor. Please read our letter below.

We requested funding for undergrounding utilities on U.S. 1 and replacing the obsolete bridge on Old Colchester Road over Giles Run.

Our region has long suffered from underinvestment in crucial infrastructure that would spur private sector development and provide necessary access to services for our community. In the coming years, over $1 billion will be invested in the 36th District. The tide is beginning to turn but we have a long way to go. 

I am hopeful that the federal government will play a role by investing in these requests. Investments made today will pay dividends for the next generation of U.S. 1 residents and small business owners.

Earmark Request for U.S. 1 ... by Scott A. Surovell

Weekly Column: Where Should the NVTA Spend $500 Million of Your Money?

Where Should the NVTA Spend $500 Million of Your Money?

              Now is the time to help direct transportation funds to our community.

 For 27 years, between 1986 and 2013, Virginia did not raise its transportation taxes.  While labor, steel, asphalt and concrete got more expensive and cars became more fuel efficient, gas tax revenues declined.  During those years, Virginia stopped repaving roads and other maintenance to fund road construction.  In 2013, the General Assembly passed new taxes to restore highway maintenance funding and we passed new regional taxes to fund regional transportation construction through the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). 

                The 36^th Senate District has benefitted from these taxes in projects like US 1/Richmond Highway widening (design and land acquisition), U.S. 1/Dumfries widening (design and land acquisition), U.S. 1 bus rapid transit (design), U.S. 1 at Featherstone widening, $80 million in Virginia Rail Express improvements, a new CSX bridge crossing of US. 1 at I-95 and Old Bridge Road/Occoquan Road intersection reconstruction.

Comment on Regional Transportation Funding Today

 

            The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) has published its rankings for its next Six-Year Plan Update to fund $522 million of projects over the next six years.

            The NVTA plans its projects in a six-year plan every two years.  Local governments and other entities nominate projects for funding.  It uses objective criteria to rate projects based on congestion relief, economic development, pollution reduction and safety with congestion relief getting the highest weight.  This ranking is named after the bill that authorized it – HB599.  

             After projects are scored, the score is divided by the funding request so that we can see which projects give our region the biggest bang for the buck.  As you can see in the table below, this means that while some projects scored very well – such as the U.S. 1 widening – after you consider the cost, their relative ranking dropped substantially.  

             There are $404 million in seven projects at risk in the 36^th Senate District at-risk:

36th District Submitted Project List
Comment Deadline May 24, 2020 

Overall Rank	Project	Description	Request	HB599 Rank
3	Annapolis Drive U.S. 1/VA-123 Connection	Connect Annapolis Drive between U.S. 1 and VA-123	$8.0m	9
5	Widen U.S. 1 Thru Town of Dumfries	Widen and realign U.S. 1 through Town of Dumfries to construct new boulevard, construct sidewalks and paths.	$78.0M	6
10	Summit School Rd. Extension & Telegraph Rd. Widening	Connect Telegraph Road to Minnieville Rd via Summit School Drive to bypass Potomac Mills Mall.	$24.0M	7
20	U.S. 1/Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit	Construct bus rapid transit from Huntington Metro to Fort Belvoir	$71.0M	1
22	VRE Woodbridge Station Improvements	Construct new passenger platform for new third rail.	$2.2M	11
23	Extend Van Buren Road from VA-234 to Cardinal Drive	Planning funds for new road between VA-234 and Cardinal Drive.	$8.0M	30
25	U.S. 1/Richmond Highway Widening Hybla Valley to Fort Belvoir	Widen U.S. 1 to six lanes, new sidewalks, multiuse paths, and reserve space for BRT from Fort Belvoir to Hybla Valley.	$183.0M	3
30	PWC Parkway & Old Bridge Intersection Rebuild	Realign intersection to create more seamless PWC Parkway.	$30.0M	37

Please provide me your comments using the two forms below.  I have include links to information about the projects and the project rankings at the top of the form if you want to investigate further.

Fairfax County NVTA Project List Comment Form
Prince William County NVTA Project List Comment Form

I will be submitting all comments to the NVTA before May 24, 2020.

Session Interviews with Cable Reports

Every year, I interview with Cable Reports to preview the General Assembly Session.  This year, I did two interviews - one focusing on Fairfax County and the other on Prince William and Stafford Counties. During these interview we were able to cover a wide array topics from the Governor's agenda to items that specifically affect the constituents within my district. I was glad to discuss the coal ash removal bill that was supported by the Governor. We went on to discuss my legislation on predatory lending, the urgency of passing tax conformity, underground utility lines, the tolling situation on I-81 and bi-partisan redistricting.

Fairfax County

Prince William County

Equity for Who? Comment on Fairfax County Proposal to Delete Six Miles of Planned Bike Trails

High Voltage Power Lines Along Huntley Meadows
Park Boundary
(Click to Enlarge)

Huntley Meadows Park is a wonderful community asset.  I volunteered in the park for about five years checking blue bird nesting boxes for eggs near Hayfield as part of an attempt to bring them back.  I've enjoyed the park with my kids, sent them to summer camps there, jogged in the woods, and spent time there pondering nature.

The community bravely and correct beat back and effort to run highway through the park when I was in high school.  I have been a life member of the Friends of Huntley Meadows for nearly a decade and also secured them corporate financial support in the past.

Map Showing Current Comp Plan and Possible Trail

Realignments to Minimize Wetland Impacts
(Click to Enlarge)

However, this month, the Fairfax County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will be voting on a proposal to remove two potential bike and walking trails along the boundaries of Huntley Meadows Park on utility easements from the County's Comprehensive Plan.  I support the existing proposed trails, oppose both removal amendments and would like to hear from constituents about the issue to communicate their concerns to County leaders.  You can provide your comments below.

Weekly Column: Ending Gridlock, Seeking Transportation Funds for Our Area

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Connection, The Prince William Times, The Fort Hunt Herald, and Potomac Local in the week of December 3, 2018.

Ending Gridlock, Seeking Transportation Funds for Our Area

As traffic congestion continues to plague us, I  am intensifying my fight for more transportation resources in our area.  Last week, I testified before the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) and made the case for more funds for several critically needed transportation projects:  the I-95/Occoquan bottleneck, U.S. 1 widening and bus rapid transit, U.S. 1 in Dumfries and several other projects. 

A few years ago, we began scoring projects based on objective criteria including congestion relief, economic development, environmental benefits and safety improvements.  Not surprisingly, U.S. 1 scored relatively high using these new metrics as compared to projects around the rest of Northern Virginia, a result that underscores my long-term point that U.S. 1 has been long ignored over the last few decades. 

Dumfries U.S. 1 on the Verge - Comment by Saturday!

If you ever get down to Dumfries to talk to its residents, one of the first things you learn is like Eastern Fairfax County, the state of U.S. 1 is one issue that binds all of its residents together.  In the next three days, they have an opportunity to do something about it.

Only Three Ways Out of Dumfries
(Click to Enlarge)

Dumfries and its communities to the east along the Potomac River have basically only three ways to get out of town - U.S. 1 North, U.S. 1 South, and two-lane Van Buren Road.  In-fact, U.S. 1 cuts across the creeks for each peninsula into the Potomac River, within a quarter mile of where each creek becomes tidal.  This basically turns each peninsula into a massive cul de sac.

When coupled with the endemic congestion on Interstate 95, the consequences for the Town are tragic.  Each time I-95 becomes gridlocked, interstate traffic bails out onto U.S. 1 causing U.S. 1 to freeze and leaving thousands of residents with no way out.  The gridlock has also stymied the town's ability to attract high quality development to its business areas.

Demanding Investments From NVTA For Our Community

Last night, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority hosted a public hearing to receive public comment before deciding how they will allocate over $1.248 billion over the next six years. I joined Dumfries Mayor-Elect Derrick Wood and Town Councilwoman-Elect Monae Nickerson to advocate for funding four projects on U.S. 1. 

Here are the four projects:

• 2018-006-1 - Route 1 Widening (Fort Belvoir to Costco) - $127,000,000
• 2018-007-0 - Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit - $250,000,000
• 2018-016-2 - CSX Bridge Widening at U.S. 1 and I-95 - $12,000,000
• 2018-053-1 - Widen Route 1 Through Dumfries - $116,554,00

We were joined by the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens and the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation who spoke in support of the projects.  Unfortunately, the Northern Virginia "Transportation" Alliance - a coalition of Tysons and Dulles-Area businesses and developers spoke specifically in opposition to the Route 1 projects even though U.S. 1 BRT ranked #8 for congestion relief on the formula that they drafted and pushed us to enact!  

Eastern Fairfax and Prince William County have waited too long for transportation investments into U.S. 1. Now is the time to fund these crucial projects and I will have little patience if the institutional forces of Northern Virginia continue to demand priority over areas that have lacked infrastructure investment for three decades.

Weekly Column: Comment on U.S. 1’s Future ASAP

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette and Springfield Connection in the week of May 15, 2018.

Comment on U.S. 1’s Future ASAP 

If you care about our community’s future, it is critical that you take a few minutes before May 20 to share our support for upgrading the U.S. 1 corridor, a major, but long-overlooked, commercial, residential and recreational thoroughfare in eastern Fairfax County. 

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) is now deciding which projects to fund with $1.2 billion as part of its six-year plan.   

Fairfax County submitted several projects including widening U.S. 1 north from Fort Belvoir to Costco ($127 million) and establishing bus rapid transit from Huntington Metro to Fort Belvoir ($250 million) and made these top county-wide priorities.  NVTA ranked these two projects #23 and #24 out of 60 using the new “Smart Scale” criteria and numbers #2 and #8 out of 60 using the HB599 congestion mitigation criteria established by state law.  

Kingstonian Column: Affordable Housing Must Be Part of U.S. 1’s Remake

The following will appear in the May, 2018 Kingstonian Magazine and Beulah Corridor monthly magazine.

Affordable Housing Must Be Part of U.S. 1’s Remake 

This past month, as part of the “Embark Richmond Highway” process the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made significant progress building on the U.S. 1 Multimodal Study authorized by Senator Puller and myself in 2011 which envisioned a six-lane U.S. 1 bordered by sidewalks, multiuse paths, a median-dedicated bus rapid transit and two-stop Yellow Line extension.  The zoning changes envisioned by Embark will be truly transformational.  However, U.S. 1’s revitalization is generating legitimate questions about the future of affordable housing for current and future members of our community.  

From the beginning, I have been concerned the impact of revitalization on affordable housing.  The South County Task Force led by Mary Paden recently convened a panel discussion on affordable housing after it was largely omitted from the Embark recommendations.

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.

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.

U.S. 1 Widening Comment Deadline 12/5!

One of my top priorities since I was first elected in 2009 has been the improvement of U.S. 1.

In 2011, former Senator Toddy Puller and I passed legislation authorizing the Route 1 Multimodal Alternative Analysis Study.  VDOT is proposing its first widening which extends from Woodlawn to Costco pursuant to this study and is accepting public comments on their design.

This project will widen U.S. 1 to six lanes, provide a bike and pedestrian trail on both sides of the road, and maintain a median necessary for future Bus Rapid Transit.

VIEW VDOT PRESENTATION HERE

Possible configurations for the intersection of U.S. 1 and

Buckman Road/Old Mt. Vernon Hwy

VDOT is also considering several improvements that require community input such as whether to create "superstreets" that allow fewer left turns and provide better traffic flow (see below), whether to underground telephone, electricity, and cable lines, and whether to mitigate litter and storm water runoff from the road.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS TO THIS PROJECT BY USING THIS LINK.

All submitted comments will be forwarded to VDOT.

The U.S. 1 Multimodal Alternatives Analysis Study found that this segment should be served by bus rapid transit to encourage development to support a Metro extension. The bus rapid transit system will provide curb-separated lanes for buses which will run ever 6-10 minutes and carry passengers to and from residential and mixed use areas along U.S. 1 to the Huntington Metro.  

Weekly Column: Raw Sewage and Predatory Lending Addressed and U.S. 1 Funding Update

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette, Springfield Gazette, The Mt. Vernon Voice, and the Potomac and Stafford Locals in the week of January 24, 2017.

               The General Assembly Session is in full gear and legislation has begun to move through the process as we start to take action on 3,000 bills. 

               First, this weekend I am hosting two town hall meetings in Prince William County.  On Saturday, January 28 from 9-11 a.m. I will be at the Occoquan Town Hall with Delegate Luke Torian and Senator George Barker, and from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. I hold a Town Hall with Senator Jeremy McPike and Delegate Luke Torian at Forest Park High School.  Please come out, attend and ask questions.

               Three of my bills have been passed by the Senate and moved on to the House.  Mostly importantly, we reached a compromise solution that will require the City of Alexandria to have measures in place to prevent 95% of all raw sewage discharges into the Potomac River by 2025. 

               Reaching this conclusion was not easy and the City is not happy about it, but water quality is a concern to all Virginia’s regardless of political party.  The resolution would not have occurred without the help of City of Alexandria Senator Adam Ebbin and Committee Chairman Richard Stuart who represents the Northern Neck.

Public Comment Deadline on Route 1 Widening!

On Tuesday (6/14) at 6:30 p.m., there will be a public hearing at the South County Government Center regarding allocating $267 million of annual funding for transportation in projects in Northern Virginia possibly including Route 1. 

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) has $267 million to spend this cycle.  Multiple jurisdictions submitted funding requests.  Fairfax County submitted requests for funding seven projects - (1) I-66 and VA-28 interchange, (2) Frontier Drive extension near Springfield Mall, (3) VA-7 widening in Great Falls, (4) Braddock Road HOV, (5) Fairfax County/Dulles Toll Road widening, (6) VA-28 widening from Prince William to U.S. 29, (7) widening U.S. 1 from Woodlawn to Napper Road (Hybla Valley).

Last year, the NVTA funded $10 million for project design and environmental compliance work for this project.  Delegate Paul Krizek and I submitted over 430 comments in support of the project. 

The NVTA recently announcing scoring for each of the submitted projects.   The NVTA scoring criteria focuses on congestion relief and projects that are shovel ready, and the U.S. 1 widening scored 20th out of 24 projects  because other projects were proposed to be completed earlier.   

Excerpt from Project Description Form Submitted
By Fairfax County

This year's NVTA project application submitted by Fairfax County staff stated that construction will start in 2023 and the project will be open for traffic in 2025. 

The main reason U.S. 1 in Fairfax County scored low was because of the proposed construction timetable as compared with other projects Fairfax County (and other jurisdictions) submitted.  The NVTA is required by law to give greatest priority to the projects that will give the greatest congestion relief the soonest.

For example, the two U.S. 1 projects submitted from Prince William County scored #6 and #13 on the list. 

Clearly, I am very disappointed both that current planning has this project going scheduled for completion in 2025 and that it is not looking good for getting NVTA funding this round.  I have been a staunch advocate for widening Route 1 and construction bus rapid transit and a Yellow Line extension as soon as possible - not in decades!

The public comment deadline is this Friday.  I have included a form below where you can provide public comments that I will deliver to NVTA on Friday. 

Last year, Delegate Krizek and I delivered a petition with 430 comments to NVTA.  We need to do it again -  Please explain why we need to fund Route 1 improvements now and how congestion on Route 1 is affecting your quality of life today. 

Embark Richmond Highway Embarks!

There are exciting things afoot on U.S. 1 in Fairfax County.  The condition of U.S. 1 is tied to everything in our community - property values, schools, environment, and quality of life.  When I was elected in 2009, I promised voters that my number one priority would be facilitating the redevelopment and revitalization of the U.S. 1 Corridor. 

After consulting with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), we determined that the first step was to develop a coherent consensus view of transit and land use in the corridor.  In 2011, Senator Toddy Puller and I pushed through SJ292 which commissioned the Route 1 Multimodal Alternatives Analysis and Senator Puller and I secured $2 million to fund the study working with Governor Robert McDonnell and Secretary of Transportation Sean CoNnaughton. 

The study wrapped up last year and included collaboration from myself, Senators Toddy Puller and Adam Ebbin, Delegates Mark Sickles and Dave Albo, and Supervisors Gerry Hyland and Jeff McKay.  The final report is 500 pages long and you can read it here:

Route 1 Multimodal Alternative Analysis Final Report

The study recommended a four phase approach to construct:

• Sidewalks down the entire 14-mile length of U.S. 1 and a multi-use path for pedestrian and cycling.
• Widening U.S. 1 to six lanes its entire length.
• Constructing a median-dedicated bus rapid transit system from the Huntington Metro to the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express Station.
• Extend the Yellow Line from Huntington Metro to Beacon Hill and Hybla Valley. 

This was endorsed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last year.  Making this a reality will require long-term hard work and collaboration between the Federal, State and Local governments and all of Mt. Vernon and Lee District's elected officials.   

NVTA, CTB ANNOUNCE NEW FUNDING FOR U.S. 1 IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
April 24, 2015

More information:   
Megan Howard, 703.850.8618

NVTA, CTB ANNOUNCE NEW FUNDING FOR U.S. 1 IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
Local Leaders Applaud Acceleration of Funding for U.S. 1 Road Widening & Multimodal Transit Improvements

Mt Vernon, VA—The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) announced two separate projects this week to improve the U.S. 1 Corridor in Northern Virginia.

The CTB’s new Six Year Improvement Plan (SYIP) proposes $4 million allocated to fund the preliminary engineering and environmental impact analysis for Phase I and II recommended by recently completed the Route 1 Multimodal Study. This would include planning to lay the groundwork to implement median-dedicated bus rapid transit from Huntington to Fort Belvoir as an intermediate measure leading to a two-stop extension of the Yellow Line to Hybla Valley.

Weekly Column: Transportation Funding Hearing Comes to Route 1

The following is my column that will appear in the Mt. Vernon Gazette and The Mt. Vernon Voice in the week of April 5, 2015.

Transportation Funding Hearing Comes to Route 1
Last week, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) held public hearings at the South County Government Center at the request of Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay and  Board Chairman Sharon Bulova.

These deliberations include whether to help fund the $14 million estimate for the initial design and environmental analysis of widening U.S. 1 from Fort Belvoir to Napper Road near the Costco, including reserving space for bus rapid transit to Woodbridge and constructing a sidewalk and multi-use path along the entire length.  It also includes about $60 million for widening U.S. 1 in Prince William County (Featherstone to Mary’s Way and Fraley Boulevard to VA-234).

First, here’s some background. Virginia’s transportation system suffered from a twenty-year funding shortfall, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) “borrowed” maintenance money (paving and bridge reconstruction) so there was something to spend on construction. This is why about 75% of the secondary roads in the 36^th Senate District now require paving.   In 2013, the General Assembly passed legislation, now law, raising taxes to fund about 20% of our known long-term new construction needs. The bill had statewide and local components.