Could a 4-lane connector road ease Stafford’s traffic congestion?

Former Stafford County Hartwood District Supervisor Joe Brito has proposed building a new road that would connect five separate roadways west of Interstate 95 with a new four-lane highway.

The conceptual highway would run north to south and would include connecting Mine Road and Route 610 (Garrisonville Road) to Centreport Parkway. Also, part of the idea contains a reconstructed Berea Church Road, which would join to Celebrate Virginia Parkway and would cross the Rappahannock River and connect to Carl D. Silver Parkway in Fredericksburg, and would end at Harrison Road in Spotsylvania County.

Brito, who shared his concept with Potomac Local News, based his design on portion of the 1997 Outer Connector Study, which proposed building a highway I-95 bypass around Fredericksburg. The outer connector idea popped up now and again for the last 20 years.

Most recently, in June 2019, when Aquia District Supervisor Cindy Shelton, who also sits on the board of the Fredericksburg Metropolitan Planning Organization, reignited the discussion for a bypass as a way to create an alternate route around Stafford and to ease highway congestion.

“An outer-connector idea is a concept that is currently on FAMPO’s unconstrained list, and something I, personally, have supported for quite some time,” Shelton told Potomac Local News. “What is essential to understand is that we must allocate funding for a regional study as this will impact the region, not just Stafford.”

A new study would be required to get a handle on how much a bypass would cost. Under the 1997 proposal, the bypass would have been built starting at I-95 at Massaponax, tracked west through Spotsylvania County, crossed the Rappahannock River into Stafford County, and then reconnecting to I-95 at Centreport Parkway, near Stafford Regional Airport.

Today, however, too many new homes have been built within the original right-of-way of the bypass proposed 20 years ago. If local leaders continue to pursue building a bypass, they will need to chart a new course for the highway.

Brito, who served on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors from 2007 to 2010, says he’s putting his experience in working in local government to work to try to solve the traffic congestion issue that plagues the county.

Stafford, already the state’s second-fastest-growing jurisdiction, is projected to grow by 30% over the next 20 years.

In an attempt to get ahead of the growth, the county is working with the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO) to approve a Draft 2045 Constrained Long-Range Plan. If approved, the plan seeks to improve road conditions by expanding lanes and intersections to ease traffic congestion as well as adding additional safety emplacements such as roundabouts and rumble strips.

The long-range plan does not include the construction of any new roadways, said Brito. He would like to see a study performed based on his proposal.