VDOT studying intersection improvements along Va. Route 28

Del. Danica Roem, D-13th District, announces a study of five intersections on Va. Route 28. The $250,000-$300,000 study will analyze alternative intersection designs.

As cars drove by on Va. Route 28, the Virginia Department of Transportation and Del. Danica Roem, D-13th, announced Monday that the state agency has begun a study of five intersections on Route 28 in the Manassas Park and Yorkshire areas.  

The study is estimated to cost around $250,000 to $300,000, said Helen Cuervo, VDOT’s Northern Virginia district engineer. 

Expected to be completed by the end of the year, the study will analyze alternative intersection designs that can make Route 28 safer and move cars more efficiently, said Roem, who is running for re-election this November against Republican Kelly McGinn.

The study will look at intersections from Blooms Quarry Lane up to the boundary between Prince William and Fairfax counties. 

“We’re studying a number of options, so it’s not a one size fits all,” Roem said. 

Among the options considered will be roundabouts, flyovers and other intersection improvements, Roem said.

When the study is completed, officials will still have to figure out what options to pursue, how much they will cost and how to fund them.

“My ultimate end goal is to replace every stop light as possible between Yorkshire and Centreville,” Roem said. 

While the study won’t have concrete estimates of how much options may cost, the study will include a general range of how much options could cost, said Dic Burke, VDOT’s liaison for Prince William County. 

The idea for the study came from bills Roem filed in the House. While the bills did not pass, VDOT decided to administer the study within its existing budget, she said. 

Sens. Jeremy McPike, D-29th, and George Barker, D-39th, and Manassas Park Mayor Jeanette Rishell and others attended the announcement on Monday at Emmanuel Christian School at 8302 Spruce St., which is along Va. 28. 

McPike said this study is a “huge step forward” and Rishell said she is happy this study is being conducted.

“I understand how important these studies are for the future of transportation,” she said. 

Traffic along Va. 28 is a big issue for commuters and other residents. Prince William Board of County Supervisors will ask voters to consider a $355 million bond referendum for road projects, including $200 million that will go toward improving Va. 28 or adding a bypass.

Currently, Prince William County is working with VDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to study the environmental impacts of three possible fixes for Va. 28. 

Roem said this intersection study will supplement the county’s environmental study. 

Developed in 2017, the three proposals being evaluated in the environmental study are:

  • Extending Godwin Drive for a bypass of existing Va. 28 from Sudley Road to north of Bull Run.
  • Widening Va. 28 to a six-lane divided thoroughfare between Liberia Avenue and the Fairfax County line.
  • Extending Euclid Avenue south from Quarry Road to the Va. 28/Sudley Road intersection.

The county plans to hold a public hearing this fall, and the Federal Highway Administration is set to make a final decision on which proposal is the best fit in 2020. 

An environmental study considers land use and development, impacts to communities, traffic noise, historic and archaeological resources, water quality, parklands and recreation areas, air quality, streams and wetlands, and other impacts on the environment.

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(5) comments

Lynne June

Smoothing traffic through Prince William County will do little good. The delays start way up the road in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. A regional approach needs to occur and that includes a much needed Metro extension needed at least to 234 or Gainesville. Putting in a Metro extension to Centreville would do little to ease the crowding on 28.

Allen Muchnick

You are correct that regional public transportation alternatives are currently lacking; however, for multiple reasons, no extension of Metrorail into Prince William County would be technically or financially viable for many decades, if ever.



What's needed in the shorter term are congestion-free highway lanes (or dedicated transitways) for buses and carpools--such as the express lanes that are now being built on I-66--for the Centreville Rd, Sudley Rd, Prince William Pkwy, and Dumfries Rd corridors and for any extension of Godwin Dr that may be built. Without effective bus transit and ridesharing options, road "improvement" projects in Prince William County will not provide any lasting congestion relief.

Allen Muchnick

Sadly, due to decades of neglect by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, the various efforts to "fix" Centreville Road through Yorkshire have all put the cart before the horse.



The first thing needed is a strategic land use plan for the corridor. One the other hand, converting Centreville Rd into a freeway would be ineffective and shortsighted--"Improving" a traffic sewer for commuting solo motorists--without also providing effective bus transit and ride-sharing options--would only waste money and degrade the Yorkshire area.



The smartest concept I've heard for fixing the Centreville Rd corridor is to build a new parallel three-lane roadway roughly one block to the west, operate the existing Centreville Rd and the new roadway as one-way three-lane roads in opposite directions (with synchronized traffic signals), establish dedicated busways on the existing 5-lane Centreville Rd, and redevelop the block between the two roadways with moderate-density multi-family housing mixed with local retail shops.



Wise local elected officials would advance sustainable long-term development solutions that will create livable communities, not short-term "traffic fixes" that will only perpetuate traffic congestion. promote additional sprawl, and degrade existing communities like Yorkshire. I hope the next Coles District supervisor is listening.


ROBERT ARRINGTON

Wise local elected officials hahahahahhahahahahhahahah we answer our own questions

Allen Muchnick

Periodic elections are an opportunity to educate our local elected officials and to help get the best ones elected. Run for office yourself if you think you can do a better job.

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