CSG Recommendations for NVTA’s FY24-29 Six-Year Program

Posted on by Ayesha Amsa

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) is deciding among a range of projects competing for its six-year program of regional funding. CSG provides recommendations and information below to help you comment via NVTA’s feedback form by the close of public comment Sunday, May 19 at 11:59pm.

For more background information on individual projects see NVTA’s summary list and Six-year program homepage. 

Top project priorities for funding

These projects foster more walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented mixed-use communities and/or address critical safety needs:

Alexandria

  • ALX-029 – Safety Improvements at High-Crash Intersections
  • ALX-032 – South Van Dorn Street Bridge Enhancements
  • ALX-033 – Alexandria Metroway Enhancements
  • ALX-037 – Smart & Connected Vehicle Infrastructure

Arlington

  • ARL-023 – CC2DCA Multimodal Connection (Bike/ped bridge to National Airport)
  • ARL-022 – Shirlington Bus Station Expansion

Falls Church

  • CFC-011 – City of Falls Church Signal Prioritization Project (improves Rt 7 bus services)

City of Fairfax

  • CFX-018 – Northfax Network Improvements – Northfax East-West Road
  • CFX-019 – Blenheim Boulevard Multimodal Improvements

Fairfax County

  • FFX-136 – Braddock Road Multimodal Improvements Phase II (Humphries Dr to Southampton Dr)
  • VRE-017 – VRE Backlick Road Station Improvements

Prince William County

  • PWC-041 – Route 234 Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Over I-95
  • PWC-044 – Triangle Mobility Hub and First/Last Mile Connection Improvements

Projects that CSG supports with design improvements

The following Fairfax County projects will provide benefits for transit-oriented development, bus rapid transit (BRT), and pedestrian and bike infrastructure. However, their currently proposed designs have oversized roads that prioritize fast vehicle traffic and increase project costs.  

  • FFX-134 – Frontier Drive Extension and Intersection Improvements – Expands the local street grid near Franconia-Springfield Metro station. However, the design features too many traffic lanes that will undermine the walkable, mixed-use urbansim envisioned in the area.
  • FFX-135 – Route 7 Multimodal Improvements (I-495 to I-66) – Widens Route 7 to provide future space for Route 7 BRT dedicated bus lanes and shared-use paths on both sides. However, some preliminary designs show turn lanes that continue throughout the corridor that effectively become additional travel lanes; these should be removed to reduce the road-width to be more walkable and transit-friendly.
  • FFX-138 – Seven Corners Ring Road Improvements – Helps build out a local street grid, but the design features too many traffic lanes that will undermine the walkable, mixed-use urbansim envisioned in those areas. We have asked for revision as a 2-lane complete street with wide sidewalks, bike lanes and on-street parking.

Other worthwhile projects

These projects make more incremental improvements to walkability, traffic calming, and transit access. Other car-oriented land use and transportation planning in these areas by local jurisdictions and/or the Virginia Department of Transportation  limit their effectiveness. 

  • CMP-001 – Route 28-Centreville Road Corridor Improvements
  • LDN-034 – Route 15 at Braddock Road Roundabout
  • MAN-003 – Roundabout at Route 28 and Sudley Rd
  • PWC-042 – Route 234 Operational Improvements
  • PWC-043 – The Landing at Prince William Transit Center

Should not receive limited regional funding

These projects rely on expensive roadway capacity expansion to generate short-term traffic relief for drivers, but in the long-term this approach (and the car-oriented land use plans) generate more traffic and make the problem worse. 

  • PWC-040 – Route 234 and Sudley Manor Drive Interchange
  • LDN-029 – Old Ox Road Widening – Shaw Road to Oakgrove Road
  • LDN-033 – Sycolin Road Widening – Loudoun Center Place to Crosstrail Boulevard

General comments you can make

In the space provided at the end of the feedback form, you can also make general comments on how NVTA and member jurisdictions can improve their project selection and evaluation:

  • It is good to see more project applications this round that improve accessibility for all users without relying on widening roads or building interchanges that simply make the region more car-dependent. Please prioritize these projects in this and future rounds. 
  • NVTA’s “congestion reduction” metrics receive too much weight and do not fully take into account the reality of induced demand in which every 1% increase in roadway capacity causes a 1% increase in traffic over time. 
  • NVTA should take into account that investing in local streets and bike/ped facilities for walkable, bikeable, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities DOES reduce the amount of driving on the region’s highways.
  • It’s time to take climate change seriously – studies show that Northern Virginia must both rapidly adopt electric vehicles and lower per capita Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) (by at least 20%) to meet its climate targets. NVTA’s evaluation needs to consider a project’s impact on VMT.