Driving down Braddock Road in recent months has presented some unsightly stretches of medians, with unmowed grass and litter in spots. But a new partnership between local elected officials and the Sheriff’s office is cleaning things up.
The roughly 8.5-mile stretch of Braddock Road, from Shirley Gate Road in the west, to Backlick Road in the east, began getting some extra attention when Lt. Col. Paul Maltagliati, of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, brought up an idea to Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) and Del. David Bulova (D-37) last year. He suggested a partnership that would create a cleaner and more beautiful Braddock Road within the stretch that include both Sharon Bulova and David Bulova’s districts, at a very minimal cost, said Sharon Bulova.
"The idea was to leverage our resources to assist the county, and in this case the state, to do something that we should be doing anyway," said Maltagliati.
Under the deal, the Sheriff’s office provides crews of workers, through its Community Labor Force program, who clean up the road. The labor force is comprised of non-violent prisoners of the Fairfax Adult Detention Center, and the program allows them to volunteer to work for Judicial Good Time, or good behavior credit.
"[The sheriff’s office] is always looking for new things to do with their Community Labor Force," said Sharon Bulova. "[The prisoners] love to get outside."
The labor force typically provides landscaping and litter- removal services on county-owned property, so the partnership is unique since the Virginia Department of Transportation maintains Braddock Road.
"We’re thrilled we were able to work this out," said David Bulova. "I’m just thrilled that VDOT lets [the labor force] do it."
Bob Driscoll, of VDOT, said the state is definitely in favor of all of the people and organizations that provide community services to help keep Fairfax County clean. He said that even though this partnership is only focused on Braddock Road, it’s still very beneficial for VDOT.
"It gives us a chance to use our assets elsewhere," said Driscoll.
Sharon Bulova and David Bulova announced the Braddock Road Maintenance Partnership at a June 12 Braddock District Council of Community Associations (BDC) meeting. In April, community members at a BDC meeting commented on the declining appearance of some state roads in the area, which prompted the implementation of the already conceived partnership.
Since VDOT is responsible for maintaining Braddock Road, it could have denied the partnership, said David Bulova. VDOT’s mowing and maintenance budget has either stayed the same or experienced cuts in recent years, but the cost of maintaining the beautification of roads have gone up, he said.
The Code of Virginia specifically states that maintenance should take priority over new construction, but VDOT has "really cut back on what they consider to be basic maintenance," said David Bulova. Maltagliati said VDOT recently budgeted just four mowings for the year on state roads.
"There is a larger, systematic problem we’re dealing with," said David Bulova. "It comes down to the interpretation of the code, and it’s a matter of community pride."
But Driscoll said VDOT has provided "a lot better mowing services" over the years, and "it’s our intention to provide better mowing services sometime in the future when we can revert to it."
So while this "pilot" program gets the ball rolling for Braddock Road, it doesn’t address inadequate funding or the state’s responsibility to maintain its roads, he said.
"We have to sit down with the secretary of transportation and the VDOT commissioner to figure out how to make [the whole system] work better," said David Bulova.
In the mean time, the partnership will send the labor crews down Braddock Road, hitting the entire stretch about every two to three weeks. Maltagliati said there likely isn’t enough manpower to do the entire county, but said the Sheriff's office wants to do whatever it can to help. Work began Monday, June 18, and by Tuesday, June 19, the crew had already covered more than three miles.
"It’s going to take two or three cuts to get this looking the way it should," said Jim Carroll, first lieutenant with the Community Labor Force. "It’s going to look good when we’re done."
The crew already needed repairs to two of VDOT’s lawn mowers since debris like hubcaps and metal frames from political signs have torn up the machines, said Mike Pence, the master deputy sheriff supervising the project. The political signs’ frames end up stuck in the ground, he said, and it "takes a lot of time trying to pull it out." He noted that politicians in the recent primary election were very prompt in removing their signs since the election.
In addition to removing litter and mowing the medians, the partnership is also addressing some of the dead or diseased trees along the stretch of road. Trees originally planted under the Braddock District Tree Planting Project, implemented by Sharon Bulova in 1988 to make the newly widened Braddock Road greener, are in bad shape, she said.
Under the partnership, Driscoll agreed to remove the dead trees, and Rich Barfield, of Area Landscaping Company on Olley Lane, agreed to replant trees under VDOT’s tree-planting regulations, said Sharon Bulova.
"[Area Landscaping] has been great," said Sharon Bulova. "They’re a local company who likes giving back to the community."
The BDC’s role in the partnership is to host fund-raising efforts that would contribute to the costs of the tree replanting and maintenance.