* The Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter, serving western Fairfax County, will be built between the Hampton Forest and Stringfellow Road intersections on Route 29. Three existing family shelters are in the northern, southern and eastern parts of the county — and 50-60 families are on the waiting list, at all times. But this one will provide a safe haven for Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax City parents who currently have no place to stay, except for motels.
The 20,000-square-foot shelter will be just west of Meadows Farms Nursery. It will house up to 20 families and will predominantly serve single mothers with children — mainly in elementary school or younger. Entry to the 5.7-acre site will be via a service-road stub coming from the adjacent Estates of Fairfax subdivision, being built by Equity Homes. A modified traffic signal is planned for Hampton Forest Road.
The shelter will be mostly two stories and have a residential appearance. Also planned are some 50 parking spaces, an outdoor playground and a multi-use court. The county already has the $5 million it needs to construct these elements comprising phase one of the project. However, phase two — a pair of two-story, transitional housing units, each 3,000 square feet and serving three families — is not yet funded.
* Public-Use Complex: Fairfax County plans to construct a public safety, emergency operations and transportation center off West Ox Road and the Fairfax County Parkway. Not only will it unify state and county representatives in one place in the event of a crisis, natural disaster or other emergency, but it may even improve traffic flow in the vicinity.
The multi-faceted, public-use campus is Fairfax County's baby, but it involves other entities, as well, including VDOT and the state police. And county and state personnel designed the complex's master plan together. Total price tag is not yet known, but the public safety building, alone, is estimated to cost nearly $80 million. So far, the county's earmarked $47 million toward the project.
The parcel is 78 acres along the southern and eastern edges of a 250-acre parcel. North of it is the county Fire and Rescue Training Academy, plus a VDOT maintenance facility; west of them is a closed landfill. Here's what's planned:
* Public Safety Center — The two-story, 142,000-square-foot, public safety and emergency operations center contains three main elements — a public safety communications center, a command center for 34 public-safety entities and a police forensics facility.
* VDOT Building — This four-story structure would become VDOT's Northern Virginia district office headquarters. It's planned to be 195,000 square feet total and would also house state police administration, a child-care center and a cafeteria for VDOT employees.
* Bus facility — Planned is a 49,500-square-foot building for county bus administration, maintenance and operations. Currently, Fairfax Connector buses have no bus facility to serve central and western Fairfax County. Having this site would enable residents of areas such as Centreville and Penderbrook to get to and from the Vienna Metro station.