While Nokesville has always been a small, quiet town, the new traffic patterns with the building of new schools, such as Patriot High School, along with rapid growth in the Bristow community have increased the traffic flow on on Route 28/ Nokesville Road and Vint Hill Road (Route 215). To handle this new congestion, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is looking to widen the road.
The Prince William County Department of Transportation will conduct a public hearing on the Route 28 Widening Improvement Project on April 25 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Patriot High School in Nokesville at 10504 Kettle Run Road. This meeting is an opportunity for residents of Nokesville and Bristow, who live near Route 28 and Vint Hill, commute that way, or drop their children off at school, to voice their opinions to the county.
According to VDOT, "The proposed roadway project involves the widening of approximately 3.1 miles of Nokesville Road (Route 28) from Fitzwater Drive (Route 652) to Linton Hall Road (Route 619)."
The widening design will create a four-lane roadway from Fitzwater Drive to the realigned Vint Hill Road (Route 215), and a six-lane roadway from the extended Vint Hill Road to Linton Hall Road. Additionally, it proposes realigning Vint Hill Road approximately 0.5 miles south of its current location to align with the Bristow Village Boulevard intersection, and widening to four lanes from Nokesville Road to 0.2 miles east of Schaeffer Lane.
Project information will be available at the public hearing.
While the widening of the road may ease traffic congestion during morning rush hour and other high trafficked times, Nokesville residents are concerned that the transformation of Route 28 from a two lane road to a 4-6 lane highway will change the character of their town.
Zara Tirrell wrote a publicly circulated email. Tirrell's email states that property values will plummet for residents living on Route 28 once the new highway is constructed, due to noise and the changing of the landscape. The author of the email also argues that drivers will have no way to crossover to another lane without going to the next light, because of the median. Furthermore, the email charges that the changes will benefit Fauquier County commuters, while Prince William residents of the rural crescent will be most negatively impacted.
"How will anyone see the Dancing Cow Barn that we are diligently trying to save, if there are cement barriers erected along the new Highway?" the author of the email said.
But according to Supervisor Wally Covington of the Brentsville District, the widening of Route 28 is already in the advanced stages. It passed with 81 percent county approval back in 2006, and also with the majority approval of the precinct.
“I don’t look at this as a support or don’t support issue; I think it’s going to happen, so let's make it have the least impact on us," Covington said.
Covington said he spoke with VDOT about finding a way to widen the road with the least amount of inconvenience to the residents. As such, he has asked VDOT to make the road less wide and less fast, than they originally proposed. If those suggestions are viable, they may be announced at the meeting tonight. He also worked with Federal and state agencies to find funding for the project, since it would benefit drivers beyond Prince William County. Covington also said his office followed all state requirements for notifying citizens of the meeting. Finally, he said that when he spoke to fire and police chiefs they told him that this was a safety issue.
Beyond new congestion caused by schools, proponents consider the widening of Route 28 an alternative to Route 66 and Route 29, which both usually tend to be extremely congested at rush hour. The widening of Route 28, they believe may help to alleviate traffic throughout Nokesville, Bristow, Manassas and Gainesville.
Residents have consistently told the Board of County Supervisors that they want new roads, widening of roads and a faster commute.
The DOT has also announced that the The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Federal Highway Administration’s Regulations for Implementation of NEPA (23 CFR 771) are applicable to this project" and an environmental document in the form of an Environmental Assessment will be available for attendees to view. The road widening is also in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800.
The county is asking that interested parties submit written or verbal comments to Ms. Sherry Djouharian, Project Manager, Prince William County Department of Transportation by May 9, 2012, addressed to The Prince William County Department of Transportation, 5 County Complex, Suite 290, Prince William, VA 22192 (tel. 703‐792‐6825), or email comments to sdjouharian@pwcgov.org, referencing “Route 28 Improvement Project PH Comments” in the subject heading.
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