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Here’s how the Bi-County Parkway could still happen

Highway would link Prince William, Loudoun counties  

You may count the Bi-County Parkway down, but don’t count it out.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is no longer seeking federal funds for the 10-mile highway that would link travelers on Interstate 95 in Dumfries to I-66, and ultimately to Dulles Airport in Loudoun County.

The project must now undergo a statewide review process mandated by House Bill 2, also known as the “HB2” process, where highway projects that are not fully funded funnel through a state review process.

“This is a new prioritization process we’re still developing where projects will be screened and scored based on their ability to improve traffic congestion and highway safety,” said Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Tamara Rollison.

Projects that will go through HB2 screen have yet to be identified.  The HB2 scoring rubric is expected to be finalized in June, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board in Richmond could select their first projects for review by fall. 

The Commonwealth Transportation Board may be review projects  at urging of a local board of supervisors or a metropolitan planning organization.

“The big difference between the HB2 process versus the old process is that, for the first time, [the review process is mandated] in legislation. This administration is trying to take politics out of transportation as much as possible. It’s about taking limited dollars in within the state to meet as many transportation needs as we can,” added Rollison.

VDOT notified Northern Virginia Delegate Tim Hugo by letter it was no longer seeking federal funds for the project. That letter also addresses the HB2 process.

Politicians said that notice is a sign of defeat for a once contentious project. Two years ago, a debate over the Bi-County Parkway had highway officials, business leaders, politicians, and residents who live along the Route 234 corridor up in arms. 

On Tuesday, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart released this statement:

Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart announced today that Virginia Department of Transportation(“VDOT”) has informed the County that VDOT is no longer pursuing the Programmatic Agreement or the environmental approvals from the Federal Highway Administration necessary to build the Bi-County Parkway. 

As a result, in order for the Bi-County Parkway project to proceed, funding would need to come from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (“NVTA”) or through VDOT district funding.  Both of those funding options, however, would require the localities to prioritize the project over other regional priorities, which Stewart said was extremely doubtful.

The project corridor remains a “corridor of statewide significance,” meaning officials identified it as ripe for a new highway. Delegate Bob Marshall on Wednesday urged local politicians to remove the Bi-County Parkway projects from short-range plans.

VDOT’s unprecedented and heavy-handed efforts to coerce public officials into supporting the road and VDOT’s inappropriate use of tax money to attempt to persuade the public to support the Bi-County Parkway have not lessened citizen opposition to it in Western Prince William. I and many other state elected officials remain firm that this project should not proceed forward.     

I urge the Prince William and Loudoun Boards of Supervisors to take the BCP (which included the closure of Route 234 and Route 29 in Manassas Battlefield Park) off their comprehensive plans.  I am also writing to the Commonwealth Transportation Board today to ask them to remove the designation of a Corridor of Statewide Significance from the BCP. 

Transportation think tanks in our region say the Bi-County Parkway is still a much-needed thoroughfare that would open up access to Dulles Airport, and to spur job growth in the region.

“It’s April Fools Day, and some public officials are trying to fool the public by saying the a desperately needed project won’t’ happen,” said Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance spokesman Bob Chase.

Chase said statements about the Bi-County Parkway’s demise were “a lot of hype over nothing,” and added the highway would be the only major north-south route connecting Prince William and Loudoun counties, Virginia’s second and third largest counties, respectively.

“You don’t have to do a study to know this road is important. You just have to look at a map,” said Chase.

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