Officials Back Manassas Battlefield Bypass

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — The plan for a Manassas Battlefield Bypass is simple: get the traffic out of the national park and off of hallowed ground.

The highway was approved in 1988 but is still awaiting funding. If it’s built, it would alleviate congestion on a 2-lane portion of U.S. 29 through the Manassas National Battlefield Park, taking cars out of the civil war battleground and routing them instead along a new limited-access highway that would run from the intersection of Va. 234 bypass (Prince William Parkway) and Interstate 66, and then north along the existing Pageland Lane to Va. 234 (Sudley Road) in Catharpin, and then along what would be a new portion of road along Bull Run Post Office Road to reconnect drivers with U.S. 29 in Fairfax County.

“The ultimate goal would be to close Route 234 and Route 29 inside the park,” said Manassas National Battlefield Superintendent Ed Clark.

Another much-talked about roadway — the Bi-County Parkway (between Prince William and Loudoun counties) — remains a part of the North-South Corridor cargo route from Dumfries to Dulles International Airport currently being studied, complicates things. This project has devided area residents who want traffic relief and those who want to preserve the past, and their rural homes.

“The likelihood of the Manassas Battlefield Bypass and the Bi-County Parkway and the Bi-County Parkway being built at the same time is not likely,” said Clark.

The Battlefield Bypass would cost just over $300 million and would better serve commuters who move in and out of Prince William County through the park, as well as development happening in neighboring Loudoun County, said Clark.

In 2005, Prince William County officials passed a resolution to support construction of the bypass and not close Va. 234 / U.S. 29 inside the park until the new roadway is built. Earlier this month, Board of Supervisors reaffirmed that decision with a new resolution that upholds their 2005 decision.

An agreement with state and National Park Service officials would allow for the closure of U.S. 29 and Va. 234 inside the park if a Bi-County Parkway is built on a portion of park land. 

Without the new roadway, and as traffic volumes in along U.S. 29 inside the park worsen, Clark said traffic calming measures are needed, such as narrower lanes and fewer straightways which lead to drivers reducing speeds inside the park during non-rush hour times.

Talk of the North-South Corridor has drowned out the need for the Manassas Battlefield Bypass. Opponents of it’s Bi-County Parkway have lumped in the Battlefield Bypass with this project, as both projects — the Battlefield Bypass and the Bi-County Parkway — each call for widening Pageland Lane, where various homes now sit.

The North-South corridor remains important to the Virginia Department of Transportation and area business leaders who maintain Dulles could increase the amount of cargo freight at its facility if the highway is built, linking the airport to I-95.

To show how important the corridor is, on Wednesday, state transportation officials announced Tom Fahrney as manager of Special Project Development for Northern Virginia which includes the Bi-County Parkway Study.

“Tom brings the transportation planning and organizational skills needed to assist in the development of complex projects that involve a multitude of stakeholders and special interests,” said Helen Cuervo, district administrator for VDOT in Northern Virginia in a press release. “His experience in developing complex projects and resolving stakeholder issues will serve him well in his new role.”

Fahrney worked to develop agreements with Metro and the Virginia Department of Rail and Transportation during the early stages of the Silver Line through Tysons Corner.