Fairfax board: Mulligan Road delays 'distressing'

Final construction of Mulligan Road – the road intended to alleviate traffic congestion around Fort Belvoir – was supposed to start months ago. But Fairfax County officials say bureaucracy and disputes over the contract have halted work on the partially complete project, leaving gridlocked commuters stranded on Route 1 while Mulligan Road sits unfinished.

The Federal Highway Administration awarded the Mulligan Road contract to Shirley Contracting earlier this year, but was forced to stop the project after a competing firm protested to the Government Accountability Office that the bidding process had violated the agency’s statutes, according to county officials.