Even though voters turned down last November's sales tax referendum, Burke and Springfield residents may still see some transportation improvements through a program proposed by Gov. Mark Warner (D) in December.
As part of the program, jurisdictions as well as individuals and groups in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads were asked to come up with a list of 10 projects that would cost under $2 million each and that could be completed within one year. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Monday approved a list of 11 projects in the county to submit to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). The NVTA will decide which projects to include in the final list it will send to the state secretary of transportation in March.
The program would fund a subscription shuttle bus service to the Burke Center and Rolling Road VRE stations to relieve parking problems. Customers would sign up to use the shuttle bus service and get a discount on VRE fares. The program would also fund intersection improvements at the corner of Backlick Road and the Franconia-Springfield Parkway and at the intersection of Braddock Road and Route 123.
Katherine K. Hanley (D-At large), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said she did not think the NVTA would approve all of the projects submitted by Fairfax County.
"I anticipate that the authority will recognize that each jurisdiction will get its proportional share," she said. Hanley is a member of the NVTA.
IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED for funding, localities have to show that their projects will reduce the level of air pollution and relieve congestion. For that reason, several of Fairfax County's proposals include public transportation and trails projects.
The program reflects a shift in Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) philosophy, said VDOT spokesperson Tamara Neale. Whereas the agency once focused almost exclusively on road projects, it is increasingly considering public transit, pedestrian and bicycle projects.
"There is a definite trend in that direction," she said. "You've got to come up with other ways to improve transportation besides widening roads."
But she added, "Road expansion is still part of the equation."
Young Ho Chang, the director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said many of the projects the county is submitting were also among the referendum's projects.
"We don't lack lists of projects that need to be done," he said.
It is not known at this point by how much the projects would reduce air pollution, he added. The Department will analyze the projects "once the Board blesses the list."
Tom Biesiadny, a county transportation planner, said that each project's price tag includes a cushion of money to bring the project to completion should it run over budget.
But Young Ho Chang said he did not think the county would have to tap into that extra money.
"We're pretty confident they'll come within budget," he said.
STEWART SCHWARTZ, the director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, one of the groups that campaigned against the sales tax referendum, said he welcomed "the recognition that we do have to look at more innovative and affordable approaches" to the region's congestion problem.
"I do think it's an important shift in the thinking on transportation in Northern Virginia," he said. "If you look at the results [of the referendum] and the polling, it certainly did indicate that people didn't think that building more roads and improving road capacity was going to solve the problem."
Schwartz also said his organization was working on its own list of proposed projects to submit to the NVTA.