The Connection

As a major conduit between Chantilly and Centreville, Stringfellow Road is heavily used by area residents. It’s also the gateway to four elementary schools, a middle school and a high school, a regional library, two parks, several athletic fields, churches, shopping centers and highly populated neighborhoods.

And now, thanks to a project that began nearly five years ago, people may travel seamlessly on four lanes between Routes 50 and 29. And a ceremony last Tuesday, May 26, at Greenbriar Park officially marked that milestone.

“Stringfellow Road is virtually complete in its reconstruction and we’re here to celebrate that,” said Bill Cutler, VDOT’s district construction engineer for Northern Virginia. “We’re here to cut the ribbon on a $62 million improvement project along two miles of Stringfellow Road. It connects Routes 50 and 29 and the I-66 HOV lanes and involves seven signalized intersections and many major utilities, including Fairfax County Water, Verizon, and Colonial and Plantation gas pipelines.”

The section of the road between I-66 and Route 29 was four-laned in the 1990s by Fairfax County’s Department of Transportation. Now, the portion from I-66/Fair Lakes Boulevard to Route 50 has also been widened from two to four lanes.

The project also includes a 5-foot sidewalk on the west side of Stringfellow, a 10-foot-wide path on the east side, signal improvements at seven intersections, wide curb lanes to accommodate bicyclists, a new bridge over Rocky Run, new left-turn lane northbound to Route 50, a modified southbound approach to Route 50 to facilitate traffic flow, drainage improvements and landscaping.

“It’s already made our lives easier,” said Chantilly High Principal Teresa Johnson. “It improved people’s ability to get on and off school property, especially for large events, and helps our kids get to school on time.”

“Ditto for Rocky Run,” said the middle school’s principal, Anthony Terrell. “And the partnership with FCPS, VDOT and the contractor, Fort Myer [Construction Corp.], has been great. We met every two weeks and they’ve been responsive to the needs of the schools. And now, I’m glad to see it done.”

Cutler said everyone appreciated “the local schools, parks, library and all the residents and drivers along Stringfellow road for their patience and willingness to adapt to temporary traffic patterns for the [work] crews. This is also a significant improvement for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Stressing that the two, new lanes opened in December, six months ahead of schedule, he said the road now carries 23,000 vehicles per day and that number is expected to increase. He praised Fort Myer and its subcontractor for completing the work on budget and said the project also improved the parking lots at Poplar Tree and Greenbriar parks, the entrance to the Greenbriar Civic Assn. building and the stream connections at the new bridge crossing the Rocky Run stream.

Cutler thanked Fairfax County police for controlling traffic detours and lane changes during construction, the county Board of Supervisors for funding the project, VDOT personnel, plus KinderCare, the Shenandoah Crossing and Villages of Fair Lakes communities and St. Paul Chung Catholic Church for their cooperation. He also noted that “almost 100 parcels needed some land obtained from them, and it took a tremendous amount of community involvement.”

Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-67) thanked VDOT for everything it did, and Del. David Bulova (D-37) reminisced a bit. “As a new driver, I wasn’t allowed to drive on Stringfellow because it was narrow and winding,” he said. “And as traffic increased, it became a major bottleneck. Thank you to everyone who made this project a reality, and congratulations.”

“We’ve sought for a lifetime to make Fairfax County accessible between north and south,” added state Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34). “As a high school kid, I came out here with my baseball team, and it was like driving to the end of the world from Fairfax.”

State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37) called the revamped roadway “a significant improvement to traffic congestion” and said everyone involved did “a wonderful job.”

Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said it’s a good thing that Stringfellow can now handle more traffic because, by 2034, it’s projected to carry 33,000 vehicles a day. “It’ll be a safer road,” she said. “And it’s a real tribute to partnerships between the community and different levels of government to make something good happen.”

Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) explained some of the history. “When I worked for [former Supervisor] Jack Herrity [in the late 1970s-early ’80s], we did the 50/66 study,” he said. “I came to a Greenbriar Civic Association meeting, and they didn’t want Stringfellow widened. Poplar Tree [Estates] didn’t exist then.”

He said the improved road “took a lot of people working together, and there were huge utility issues with these pipelines that run through here. When you think about the magnitude of the problems, it really is amazing that we got it done.” Frey then thanked county staff for its work and the supervisors for “their courage” in putting transportation bonds to raise money to fund Stringfellow on the ballot.

Also thanking all the stakeholders, Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) said, “This was a long time coming, but it was worth the wait.”