There are now new rules jurisdictions have to follow to get state money for transportation projects. So if the City of Fairfax wants to obtain future funding, it’ll have to make some changes.
City Transportation Director Wendy Block Sanford explained it all July 7 to a joint work session of the Fairfax City Council and Fairfax Planning Commission. “Previously, we received state money automatically for construction projects,” she said. “Now it’s not automatic.”
That’s how things worked under House Bill 1887. But in 2014, Gov. McAuliffe signed House Bill (HB) 2 into law. It requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to develop a prioritization process for making funding decisions for the statewide Six Year Improvement Program. So HB 1887 reallocated this six-year funding to make it subject to HB 2.
The CTB will now use a scoring process to determine which projects receive funds, and the scoring will be based on six factors. In Northern Virginia, one of these factors – congestion mitigation – is required to be the highest-weighted factor.
Furthermore, in order to quality for HB 2 funding, projects must be part of VTrans2040 – which is Virginia’s statewide, multimodal long-range transportation-policy plan. The state is currently creating this plan.
“The City will have the opportunity to submit projects for consideration in VTrans2040 and subsequently apply for funding through HB 2,” said Sanford. “But it’ll need to adopt a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to designate the City’s high-growth areas” in a different manner to be eligible for the funding.
PROJECTS considered for funding must meet a transportation need in one of three, priority areas:
*Corridor of inter-regional, statewide significance,
*Regional network or
*Urban Development Area (UDA) – an activity center earmarked by localities for future population growth and development.
Cities may submit projects under any of these priority areas. Regarding the inter-regional corridors, said Sanford, “There are 12 in Virginia, and two – I-66 and Route 29 – run through the City of Fairfax. Route 50 qualifies, too, because it’s within the I-66 corridor.”
The City doesn’t currently have any areas designated UDA. But according to Planning Commission Chairman Paul Cunningham, “It’s within our ability to deal with the required changes.”
To qualify for HB 2 funding in the UDA category, localities such as the City of Fairfax must modify their Comprehensive Plans before Oct. 1. And Sanford said a Comprehensive Plan Amendment can be done in September to meet that October application deadline for HB 2 projects.
She also noted that it’s an easy fix for the City to get its projects into the UDA category. “We’d just be taking areas designated in the Comprehensive Plan as ‘mixed use’ and re-designating them as ‘UDA-like,’” said Sanford.
Brooke Hardin, director of Community Development and Planning, said it could be done because these areas “already meet the criteria. So once they’re [given the UDA-like designation], the City would be eligible for this funding.” It’s also possible because, for HB 2 purposes, the state’s allowing a more flexible definition of UDAs.
Besides congestion mitigation, a project’s cost is also taken into account by the CTB for possible funding – especially if its price tag is lower than other projects vying for the available dollars. “If you have a project that’s ranked well – or doesn’t have as high a score for congestion mitigation – but costs less than other [competing projects from other jurisdictions], then it would move up in the state’s funding-priority list,” explained Sanford.
She said the City’s potential HB 2 projects are as follows: University Drive extension to Eaton Place, Fairfax Circle, Fairfax Boulevard Master Plan implementation, Government Center Parkway extension to Jermantown Road, downtown street-network expansion, Kamp Washington street-network expansion, Old Lee Highway [Great Street] implementation, and various Citywide bike and pedestrian projects.
“We need to decide if we want to designate these projects as eligible for this funding and then apply for it,” said Sanford.
Councilwoman Nancy Loftus asked, “How many of the projects on your list would the City apply for?” Sanford replied, not all of them, but probably one, at a minimum.
MAYOR Scott Silverthorne and the Council members then gave the Planning Commission the green light to go forward with work on the necessary Comprehensive Plan Amendment over the summer. Then in September, the Council can decide which projects, if any, it wants to propose for HB 2 funding by the October deadline.