‘Back to the drawing board’: Should Route 1/123 interchange be reconsidered?

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Since 2011 there have been talks of an interchange at Routes 1 and 123 in Woodbridge.

Prince William County resident Mark Scheufler sent this letter to Woodbridge District Supervisor, Frank Principi:

Supervisor Principi,

The initial Virginia Smart Scale Transportation rankings listed the Route 123/Route 1 interchange as the 286th highest in the state and 45th in Northern Virginia. It is not recommended for funding.

2018_smart_scale_project_scores.pdf

draftfundingscenario2018.pdf

I would strongly recommend going back to the drawing board and restarting the design of the interchange with a more pedestrian friendly urban design.

Please consider implementing an interchange solution similar to the Route 28 overpass of Wellington/Norfolk Southern in Manassas.(Attached). This is quadrant interchange design. This was an ~$50 million project. This will help project scoring for future NVTA and Smart Scale funding rounds.

General Recommendations for the North Woodbridge/VRE area:

• Route 123 – 2 Lanes in each direction between Belmont Bay and Annapolis Way

• Roundabout at Express Way and Belmont Bay/Route 123

• Roundabout at Express Way and Dawson’s Creek (This would allow for a second left turn lane to Route 1 Southbound)

• Minimize Dual Left Turn Lanes

• Maximize Street Grid, Way finding Signs to divert traffic away from congestion points

• Road Diet for Horner Rd and Occoquan Road (Similar to Lawyer’s Road in Reston) – One lane in each direction, middle left turn lane and bike lanes.

• Roundabout at the intersection of Horner and Occoquan Rd. (Similar to Braddock and Pleasant Valley in Fairfax County)

• Other than Route 1, “VDOT’s objective to move motorists through the area” should not be a priority”
• Pedestrian overpass over Route 1 connecting to VRE with a mixed use parking garage

• Pocket Track South of the Woodbridge VRE Station to Turnaround VRE trains (Contingent on Atlantic Gateway Rail improvements and Long Bridge) for all-day 15-30 minute service between Woodbridge and Washington DC. (Better than any Metro Station in PWC)

• On-Demand Bus Service from Woodbridge for VRE stations from Rippon to Spotsylvania during off-peak/weekends