Motorists on the Fairfax County Parkway can look forward to a direct route south as the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Department of the Army and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have reached agreement on completing the final section of the parkway from Rolling to Fullerton roads.

Much of the two-mile project is located within the Fort Belvoir Engineering Proving Ground (EPG).

Under the agreement, VDOT will:

• Provide $114.7 million to the FHWA
  
  
• Acquire right of way
  
  
• Maintain the parkway after construction is finished

“The commonwealth has worked with its federal partners to better match highway capacity with the number of jobs on the Engineer Proving Grounds site. This would not have been possible without the leadership of Senators Warner and Webb and Congressmen Davis and Moran,” said Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly stressed the importance of the road completion to county residents.

"Our commuters have been waiting for the completion of this missing link since the cross-county parkway was first envisioned more than 40 years ago," he said. "The parkway already is a critical north-south corridor for the region, connecting major residential, job and recreation centers. The BRAC movements only amplify the need to complete this connection. This is a good news day for Fairfax commuters."

The Army will:

• Provide the needed right of way for construction through the EPG
  
  
• Limit the total number of personnel at the EPG to 8,500
  
  
• Pay for all costs associated with modifications or additions to VDOT’s project necessary to accommodate the BRAC improvements
  
  
• Complete the environmental cleanup of the parkway right of way through the EPG
  
  
• Pursue implementation of five other road projects providing additional access into the EPG

"Drivers bound for Fort Belvoir and other south county destinations have long needed this segment of the parkway completed," Army officials said. "We are happy to move this forward for all commuters in this region."

The FHWA will administer final design and construction of the parkway and pursue funding for the project, including improvements at the interchanges with Interstate 95 and Franconia-Springfield Parkway.

FHWA’s most recent cost estimate to complete the parkway is $174 million.

Due to the lack of funding to complete the parkway as originally designed, the project will be constructed in four phases.

The first phase, which will cost $86 million, is the four-lane extension between Rolling and Fullerton roads that will allow commuters improved access to I-95.

Future phases will be constructed as funding is identified. Those phases include:

• Building an interchange at Rolling Road and the EPG entrance
  
  
• Relocating Hooes and Rolling roads with improvements to the interchange at Fairfax County and the Franconia-Springfield parkways
  
  
• Building a loop ramp at Boudinot Drive

VDOT, FHWA and the Army will each pursue additional funding to construct the remaining phases.

Construction on the first phase of the project will begin in 2009 and be completed by the end of 2010.

(END)

Page last modified: Dec. 18, 2007