Northern Virginia is slated to receive millions of dollars more for road construction, thanks to a provision in Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation package that allows more state funds to be doled out to localities. The General Assembly legislation, which includes $2.9 billion in bonds, also increased local project limits under the state’s revenue-sharing program from $1 million to $10 million and state funding limits from $50 million to $200 million per year.
Under the program, the state provides funding for projects, with localities supplying at least one-to-one matching funds.
| Big dollars: Local requests through VDOT revenue-sharing program for fiscal 12 | ||
| Locality | project | amount requested |
| Arlington | Old Dominion Drive bikeway/sidewalk project from North Glebe Road to 38th Street North | $500,000 |
| Fairfax | Stringfellow Road widening from Fair Lakes Boulevard to Route 50 | $10 million |
| Herndon | Drainage improvements on Station Street from Pine Street to Park Avenue | $700,000 |
| Loudoun | Riverside Parkway widening from River Creek Parkway to Kingsport/Upper Meadow Drive | $500,000 |
| Prince William | Prince William County Parkway widening from Chinn Park Drive to Minnieville Road | $5 million |
| Source: Virginia Department of Transportation | ||
“I was pleasantly surprised about how enthusiastic the local governments were, and [the change] just opened up possibilities that weren’t previously available,” said Del. Joe May, R-Loudoun, who chairs the House transportation committee. “It doesn’t create new money, but what it does do is create new opportunities.”
Loudoun applied for a total of $1.3 million through the program for projects like widening the Riverside Parkway between River Creek Parkway and Upper Meadow Drive, and widening Waxpool Road from Faulkner Parkway to Unbridled Way.
Prince William County and Fairfax County are each slated to receive $5 million, and Arlington just over $1 million.
Fairfax requested $10 million to widen Stringfellow Road between Fair Lakes Boulevard to Route 50, and Prince William County requested $5 million to widen Prince William County Parkway and $5 million to extend Rollins Ford Road.
There will be about $100 million available for the fiscal year starting July 1, and so the maximum amount of money any one locality can receive is $5 million, said Michael Estes, director of the state Transportation Department’s Local Assistance Division.
“If you’re under $5 million, you will most likely get the funds,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton. “This is why Governor McDonnell asked for the program to be large and the project limits to be increased. This is a no-brainer for us … it gets to a lot of projects that may not be able to get into the six-year plan.”
The draft six-year plan, a $10.4 billion road map of statewide projects, would fund larger items in Northern Virginia, including the construction of high-occupancy toll lanes along Interstate 95 from Fairfax to Stafford County and a high-occupancy vehicle ramp from I-395 to Seminary Road to ease congestion at the Mark Center in Alexandria.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board must still sign off on the revenue-sharing program and the six-year plan next month.
