The old adage, "You can't get there from here," has applied to the uncompleted portion of the Fairfax County Parkway for years. It looks as if that's about to change.
On Monday, Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland and Lee District Supervisor Dana Kauffman, joined forces to present a motion to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors requesting that a letter be sent to each of the utility companies whose poles are situated on the route of Fairfax County Parkway through the Engineer Proving Ground, in order to obtain their commitment to expedite the utility relocations in this high priority road project.
As Hyland explained to the Board, "Supervisor Kauffman and I recently attended a meeting with the Virginia Department of Transportation where the schedule for completing the final piece of the Fairfax County Parkway was discussed. This will involve relocation of utilities through the Engineer Proving Ground.
"The meeting made it abundantly clear that effective coordination between VDOT and all the utility companies would be absolutely essential to keeping the project on the fast track. The cooperation and assistance we need was demonstrated by utility companies during the recent landslide at Landsdown."
ON JULY 28, during a Fort Belvoir Committee meeting, VDOT presented the latest schedule for the EPG [Engineer Proving Ground] segment of the Parkway project, according to Hyland and Kauffman. This segment remains the only uncompleted piece of the cross- county roadway.
"At the urging of the Board, VDOT has reduced the project construction advertisement date from August 2007, to December 2006," background material explained.
Kauffman noted, "It's been an issue of getting both the Army and VDOT mobilized. We now have the Army moving and, hopefully, VDOT will follow suit."
He said, "We'd like to shave at least a year off the projected timetable. As long as this missing link exists, the residents of Southeastern Fairfax County are denied access to the county's Main Street."
That missing link is only two miles in length. But as Kauffman stated, "Small projects can generate the most heat."
Both Supervisors expressed the opinion, "We believe there is still an excellent opportunity to advance the project further, especially in right-of-way acquisition and in utility relocation phases. VDOT and county staff agree that these two areas provide the best opportunity to accelerate the project."