A pedestrian trail ranks higher than fixing I-95 bottleneck, Route 28

WOODBRIDGE — When it comes to winning state funding for local road projects, Prince William County struck out.

None of the nine projects the county submitted last summer for consideration for Virginia Smart Scale funding — from improving Route 28 to easing bottleneck congestion on Interstate 95 south at Route 123 at Occoquan — made the cut for the latest recommended third-round of project funding.

Instead in Northern Virginia, state transportation officials recommended funding bus rapid transit (BRT) improvements in Alexandria, and along Route 1 in Fairfax County. They also recommended picking up the cost of the Pickett Trail Connector — a $6 million, 1,260-foot walking and biking trail, which will run along a sewer line in Fairfax City, ranking it near the top of the recommended Northern Virginia projects.

Under the Smart Scale rules, each locality may submit projects for state funding every two years. Each project is weighted and scored based on

• Does the project improve safety?
• Reduce congestion?
• Improve accessibility?
• Improve land use?
• Improve environmental quality?
• Drive economic development?

Number crunchers in Richmond take the benefit score and divide it by the cost, and then produce a full ranking for each project.

Prince William County submitted these projects for consideration:

• Route 28 corridor improvements
• I-95 south auxiliary lane from Route 123 to Prince William Parkway
• New Interchanges on Route 234 at Sudley Manor and Brentsville roads
• Intersection improvements on Route 234 at University Boulevard
• Summit School Road extension and Telegraph Road widening (near Horner Road Commuter Lot)
• University Boulevard Extension (Devlin Road to Progress Court)
• Devlin Road widening
• New interchange at Route 1 and 123 in Woodbridge
• New overpass at the Norfolk-Southern Railroad and Route 15 in Haymarket

County officials learned over the holidays it would not receive state funding for Route 28 bypass known as Godwin Drive Extended. It’s a $220 million project that would extend Godwin Drive from Route 234 business near Novant/UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center to Route 28 at the Fairfax County line.

In his State of the County Address delivered on January 8, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart cried foul.

“This is unacceptable. We call on our [state] delegation to take up the mantle and fulfill the legacy left behind by Senator Chuck Colgan: put aside partisan differences and get the job done,” said Stewart.

Marty Nohe, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, which has allocated $100 million of its funding to the project, said the project wasn’t even considered for Smart Scale funding, despite being on the county’s list, because the project is still in the environmental review phase.

However, the news still comes as a blow.

“To some degree, it creates a challenge for us because we were hoping to get a substantial amount of money so that we can have a higher level of confidence that we can make sure the project is fully funded before we go to construction,” said Nohe.

Now, it’ll be up to local officials to put up county money, perhaps putting forward a $1 billion road bond referendum later this year to fund it and other projects.

Prince William County is the second-largest jurisdiction in the state, and residents are clamoring for transportation improvements to get them to employment centers in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Washington, D.C.

“We were really surprised none of the projects in Prince William County were chosen,” said Jason Stanford, executive director for the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance. “The Smart Scale process was supposed to take politics out of these decisions, but with this list, you have to question how some of these projects were chosen.”

State Senator Scott Surovell (D-36, Fairfax, Prince William) acknowledges Prince William’s size and said if it wants more transportation projects funded with state dollars, it needs to rezone land along Route 1 in Woodbridge to denser, more urban development that would clear the way for an extension of Metro’s Blue line.

“Prince William County is not doing anything to attract transit, which attracts jobs,” said Surrovell. “The county’s land-use policies are stuck in the 1980s.”

Those BRT projects in Alexandria and Fairfax were funded because leaders in those jurisdictions opted for denser zoning, and recognized that “transit is the future,” he adds.

Multiple elected officials on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors say Metro to Woodbridge, or anywhere in Prince William County will not happen in the next 50 years, if ever, as the Washington, D.C.-based transit system works to maintain its current infrastructure.

Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board in June will make the final decision on which Smart Scale projects to ultimately approve.