Prince William submits Van Buren Road extension for state funding

Van Buren Road tops a list of transportation projects that Prince William County transportation officials hope the state will fund through its Smart Scale program.

The $70-million project would extend the road about three miles, from Route 234 in Dumfries to Cardinal Drive in Dale City. The extension would create a new parallel route to Interstate 95 and would take up to six years to build the four-lane street.

Last year, the project didn’t make the cut when officials approved $355 million in new bond funding for multiple transportation projects to be completed around the county.

Residents of the gated Four Seasons community balked at the idea of extending the roadway due to noise and traffic concerns.

Other projects submitted to the state include improvements to Old Bridge Road and Prince William Parkway, building a new overpass that would carry traffic on Route 15 over a railway in Haymarket, building new intersections at Route 234/Prince William Parkway and Sudley Manor Drive, extending University Boulevard between Wellington and Devlin roads in Gainesville.

A total of 10 applications submitted by transportation officials during a pre-application period in March were reviewed by the Virginia Department of Transportation to examine the projects’ feasibility. Five projects didn’t make the cut as VDOT determined they need more study.

Those projects include improvements to the Old Bridge Road and Route 123 in Lake Ridge, winning Route 1 between Cardinal Drive and Route 123, building an interchange at Routes 1 and 123 near a Virginia Railway Express station in Woodbridge, widening Wellington Road near Gainesville, between Devlin Road and Route 234 bypass, and widening Catharpin Road and Route 55 widening in Haymarket.

Virginia’s Smart Scale program was created in 2014 in order to identify which transportation projects to fund, scoring them on safety, congestion relief, economic development, and land use.