This couple demands Prince William County take all of their property for a wider Route 1

WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County officials on Tuesday authorized more than $3.7 million for the purchase of multiple pieces of property for the Route 1 widening project.

The county needs to condemn mostly portions of commercial properties along the busy corridor in Woodbridge to widen the road from four to six lanes on a 1.3-mile stretch of road between Featherstone Road and Mary’s Way.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pay 13 property owners for their land.

The most money offered on Tuesday was $2.6 million for a shopping center on about two acres of land, located at 14413 Jefferson Davis Highway. The wholly leased shopping center is home to a 7-Eleven and about 20 other small stores.

The two-acre property has been in the family of Andrew and Robyn Neyman for the past 50 years. Both continue to own and manage the property.

The shopping center was built in 1960.

The couple says the county’s land grab of 21,000 square feet of the property means that 71 percent of their parcel will be taken for the road widening, leaving them with their entire building but only a handful of parking spaces for their businesses’ customers and employees. Fewer parking spaces, fewer customers, and tenants will move, maintains the couple.

Robyn Neyman pled with Supervisors on Tuesday to purchase the entire property, which is assessed at $4.7 million. But the Neyman’s walked out of the meeting frustrated.

“They say they sympathize with us, but they’re not listening to us,” said Neyman.

Officials said that despite the unanimous vote to condemn the property, the county would continue to work with the Neyman’s to negotiate a fair deal for the property.

“Any widening of Route 1, or any road in the county is done with the intention to grow business, not to close them,” said Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi.

The Neyman’s brought one of their tenants with them to the meeting. He’s the owner of a Latin beauty supply store at the center, an immigrant who came to the U.S. to start a business.

“I wrote a letter to help him get his green card,” said Robin Neyman. “And we’ve helped so many other people who wanted to start a business. People from Ghana, people from El Salvador…”

In addition to six lanes for vehicles, the expanded road will have a new sidewalk on one side and a shared-use path on the other.

If it isn’t going to purchase the entire property, Andrew Neyman suggested the county government purchase the property across from them, on which a KFC fast food restaurant used to sit and put more of the road there.

Though the restaurant is long gone, that property is still owned by KFC U.S. Properties Inc., according to county documents presented Tuesday. And the Board of Supervisors authorized a payment of $142,400 for about 4,000 square feet of the property, to include a portion of the parking lot and entrances.

Prince William County Department of Transportation Director Rick Canizales said that because the project is federally funded, the law allows only property needed for right of way may be purchased, and nothing more.

Construction on the road widening project is just ramping up with the demolition of buildings on the aquired property. The project is expected to be completed in November 2021. 

When it is, it will join other segments of Route 1 in the county that have already been widened to six lanes, like the portion between Neabsco and Featherstone Roads in Woodbridge, and Brady’s Hill and Joplin roads in Triangle.