Fairfax County Change on U.S. 1 1960-2010

Fairfax County Channel 16 has come out with a new video featuring some historical highlights of the U.S. 1 Corridor 1960-2000's. 

The video features discussion of change on U.S. 1 through the years has some nice segments on Gum Springs, Mount Vernon High School, Montebello, and Woodlawn.

Great cameos by area history buff Michael Bohn, Gum Springs History Curator Ron Chase, SFDC Executive Director Edyhe Kelleher, Pamela Hess Executive Director of Arcadia Center for Food and Sustainable Agriculture which is about to launch a major initiative at Woodlawn, and a few clips of me.

Great production which summarizes our local history.  You can watch below.

Mulligan Road/Jeff Todd Way Set to Open!

The Mulligan Road - newly renamed Jeff Todd Way - saga is set to come to an end very soon.  The new road will run from the Roy Rogers in Woodlawn to the bottom of the large hill on Telegraph Road just south of Hayfield Secondary School.  It is a hugely needed improvement for East-West traffic flow in the Mt. Vernon-Lee Area. 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) advised me today that the road will be open on August 18, 2014 with a ribbon cutting on August 25, 2014.  Here's some older articles I've written about it:

The Dixie Pig: Spring Transportation Updates (May 6, 2014)

The Dixie Pig: The Status of Mulligan Road and U.S. 1 (Sept. 5, 2013)

The Dixie Pig: Mulligan Road Construction (Re)Begins! (Feb. 12, 2012)

The Dixie Pig: Mulligan Road Progresses (Mar. 18, 2011)

The Dixie Pig: Mulligan Road Delayed - AGAIN (Oct. 20, 2011)

On Sunday, August 10, 2014, I "inspected" the new road on my bike with my new GoPro camera.  You can see my video at 4x speed below the flip (sorry there is no music).

Where I Stand Today On Widening of U.S. 1

I've now posted up a couple articles about the background of the widening of U.S. 1, Woodlawn and Woodlawn Stables.  You can read them here:

The Dixie Pig: Public Discourse of Widending U.S. 1

The Dixie Pig: Some Historical Context on Woodlawn

From my point of view, this is a balancing act.  Here are some of the variables I've been thinking about balancing in arriving at my position:

• The need to expand U.S. 1 to handle present and future transportation needs including enhanced mass transit.
• The community's interest in promoting economic development in the U.S. 1 corridor including the promotion of our community's historic assets such as U.S. 1 itself, the Mount Vernon Estate, The Grist Mill/Distillery Complex, Woodlawn Mansion, Gunston Hall, and coming soon, the U.S. Army Museum.
• Minimizing the impact of improvements on existing community institutions such as Woodlawn Baptist Church, Woodlawn Stables and the Woodlawn Estate.
• Ensuring this is achieved in a timely manner without undue delay that could jeopardize funding.

It's also important to keep a long-term perspective about these matters. The configuration for U.S. 1 will be in place for generations and potentially in perpetuity. According to most maps, the road has been in its current location since it was originally constructed and then widened for four lanes in the 1930's.

Comment on the Widening of U.S. 1

The widening of U.S. 1 is going to be one of the most significant public infrastructure projects in the Mount Vernon-Lee Area over the next ten years.  It is critically important that we get this right.

I would strongly encourage all of my constituents and persons with an interest in the improvement of U.S. 1 to consider providing public comment.  Here are some resources you may want to consider:

FHWA Public Comment Information Sheet
FHWA Environmental Assessment Status Summary and InfomationFHWA Public Meeting Boards from June 5, 2012 Public Hearing

I have also written some articles regarding my perspective on the issue that also contain letters that have been exchanged by various parties and other information provided through this process:

The Dixie Pig: Some Historical Context on Woodlawn (June 18, 2012)

The Dixie Pig: Public Discourse on Widening U.S. 1 (June 23, 2012)
The Diixie Pig: Where I Stand Today on Widening U.S. 1 (June 25, 2012)

Go below the fold to provide comments.  I'll release the results to the multiple choice questions once they are all in. 

Public Discourse on U.S. 1 Widening

Earlier this week, I wrote about some of the historical and legal background to the U.S. 1 widening problem.  I said I would write more on Tuesday, but I got a nasty cold from my kids - sorry for the delay!  In this article, I focus on the back and forth on the political parts of this.

As a quick aside, the image at the right is a close up of a detailed 1928 Fire Prevention Map for Fort Humphreys (Belvoir) that I've got framed in my house.  Note that the entire area has no trees.

After a multi-year oddyssey, Congressman Jim Moran was finally able to secure funding for U.S. 1 by transforming an earmark into a grant program.  Fairfax County applied for a grant and last November, was awarded $180 million to widen U.S. 1 between Telegraph Road and Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (VA-235) to mitigate the effects of BRAC.

*UPDATED* Some Historical Context on Woodlawn

Most of my constituents know that the widening of U.S. 1 through Woodlawn has been a hot local issue lately.  I wrote about this previously here when things originally got contentious:

The Dixie Pig: U.S. 1 Widening and Woodlawn Stables (Apr. 28, 2012)

Today, most people do not realize that Fort Belvoir employs more people than the Pentagon.  This is clearly part of the reason congestion on U.S. 1 and through Fort Belvoir has become a daily problem.  Since the new $800 million Army Hospital has opened congestion has appeared at the Mt. Vernon Estate, and the Walker Gate on Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. 

Since I was elected, the widening and improvement of Route 1 is one of my highest priorities.  Also, being a local, I'm also a local history geek, and this widening project has been a very interesting but extremely challenging problem. 

First, there is a lot of history about Woodlawn and also history about the widening of U.S. 1 that has brought us to this point.  More about that below. 

Greenway on the Highway - Energy Audits, Green Food & New Healthcare!

Today, I went strawberry picking with my kids out in Loudoun County and when I got home, ran over to the "Greenway on the Highway" event put together by the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation at the Woodlawn Mansion. It was an interesting event.

The event was intended to highlight new "green" enterprises, groups and charities in the Route 1 Corridor. It was a fascinating event.

First, the Woodlawn Mansion is a totally under-appreciated facility in our area. The estate was originally gifted by George Washington to his step-daughter Nelly Custis. It was designed by the architect of the U.S. Capitol. It's last resident was U.S. Senator Oscar Underwood of Lousiana who donated it to preservation group on his death who then made it the very first property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A group that has gone on to do great things such as restore James Madison's Estate in Madison County, VA.

I was excited to see that two different Home Energy Audit Companies had booths at the event. Continuum Energy Solutions who did the home energy audit on my house featured on this blog (The Dixie Pig, Mt. Vernon's Delegate Gets a Home Energy Audit), and Home Performance Solutions of Burke, VA. This is an exciting growing industry and this year, I was able to pass legislation requiring them to be licensed by the Commonwealth so there could be minimum standards, required training, and some level of consumer protection. Get an audit done if you have not already!

Next, I ran into Earl Reed who just opened up Doctor's Express on U.S. 1 and talked to him for a while about his business. Their grand opening was featured in several local news stories. They have board-certified physicians, x-ray machines, their own laboratory, and they provide services at one-third of the cost of emergency rooms. It's the kind of place most people should be going for non-acute 24-hour care instead of the emergency room.

I also ran into the leadership of the Mt. Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce and one of the Fairfax County Planning Commissioners, Tim Sargent, and had a chat about my efforts to get the ball rolling on Route 1.

Finally, I checked out the new Arcadia Farms project in the rear of the property. Arcardia at Woodlawn is partnering with the Woodlawn Plantation to develop sustainable agriculture in the D.C. Metro region and to bring fresh fruits & vegetables to those most in need. The main Arcadia group site is here. They have a garden on the south side of the mansion house where they are demonstrating their techniques. I've included some pictures below.

Good things happening on Route 1.