Prince William County would have Metro stops, extended commuter rail lines, more bus routes, and reconfigured roads and highways under the county’s proposed transportation plans.
County supervisors approved a long-term plan that would extend the Virginia Railway Express’ Manassas line south through Nokesville and west through Innovation and Gainesvilleto Haymarket. Bus routes would extend service from Gainesville/Haymarket and Manassas to Dulles, among other changes.
To address congestion on county roads in the future, some roads and highway lanes would be altered to create a more efficient traffic flow.
Long Range Planning Division Chief Ray Utz asked the Board of Supervisors last week to closely examine roads with varying widths to create a more efficient roadway system and prevent “hourglassing” of lanes, which often holds up traffic.
“We want to maintain maximum efficiency of our roads,” he said.
All roads classified as freeways and parkways would consist of four to eight lanes, under a plan proposed by an eight-person Mobility Advisory Committee. Roads would be widened or narrowed as necessary, and all two-lane roads would be reconfigured to allow for a more efficient traffic flow.
County staff was directed to prepare documents for subsequent public hearings on the plans.
Though supervisors expressed interest in extending Metrorail into Prince William in the near future as well, planning and transportation officials said that any such plan is nearly impossible.
Transaction 2030, the regional transportation plan passed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority in 2006, includes a plan to extend a Metro line to Potomac Mills by 2030, but such an expansion — even in the distant future — would require extensive cooperation with surrounding counties, said county transportation planning manager Rick Canizales.
He added that the administrative costs alone for an extended Metro system would reach $100 million annually, and the Metro compact agreement — which includes Arlington, Loudoun and Fairfax counties, but not Prince William, in its transit zone — would have to be amended to pursue such a plan.
