Two key southern Fairfax County arteries cut off immediately after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, will be replaced with a new four-lane road set to begin construction this fall, transportation officials said.
The nearly $55 million Mulligan Road will serve as a connector between Richmond Highway and Telegraph Road through Fort Belvoir, and is hoped to help ease an upcoming traffic nightmare caused by the 19,000 new jobs coming to the base by 2011. The Department of Defense closed off public access to both Woodlawn Road and Beulah Street through Belvoir after Sept. 11, arguing both were too close to sensitive facilities on the base. Since then, a greater traffic burden has been thrust onto nearby highways like the Fairfax County Parkway.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Monday committed $12 million to turn the project from a two-lane road to four lanes. The rest of Mulligan Road is paid for through military road funds and federal earmarks.
The Federal Highway Administration expects to begin construction this fall and finish by 2011, said FHWA environmental specialist Jack Van Dop. A two-lane stretch of Telegraph Road will be widened to accompany the project.
Mulligan Road won’t have any turnoffs at Belvoir, however, and probably won’t do much to aid traffic to and from the base, said Belvoir spokesman Don Carr.
“Any direct advantage to the on-post work force is going to be minimal,” he said. “The road is being done to restore the east-west access for the larger community.”
