New Opportunities For Virginia's Oldest Town

In February, Colonial Downs announced a $389 million resort gaming emporium complex in Dumfries called “The Rose.” It has the potential to transform the Town of Dumfries and is part of a larger effort to transform Eastern Prince William County into a series of waterfront mixed-use villages and parks connected by the extension of the Blue Line and the Virginia Railway Express, including Occoquan, Belmont, Potomac Shores, Dumfries and Quantico.  

Twenty years from now, these communities will become destination neighborhoods that anchor Prince William County’s social fabric and tax base and connect Northern Virginians to the Potomac River in ways we can only imagine today.

Week #3 - ERA & Predatory Lending Dies, HOA Reform Moves Forward

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 January 29, 2019.

The third week of the General Assembly brought action on many of my bills

First, the Equal Rights Amendment was killed in House Committee at the beginning of the week.  It was the first time the House of Delegates has ever held a hearing on the amendment.  The official statements from members who opposed indicated that they felt women had equal rights and the amendment was no longer necessary.  However, the conservative activist community has attempted to make the amendment all about abortion which is inaccurate - the right to contraception and reproductive freedom is already recognized in the U.S. Constitution.

Women do not have equal rights.  There are numerous pieces of legislation that are regularly passed across the country that have a disparate impact on women.  Unfortunately, these are very difficult to challenge in court because government actions that differentiate on sex are not given the same scrutiny as government actions that differentiate based on race.   I have carried this bill for seven years and we will continue to fight to enshrine equality in the U.S. Constitution. 

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.