Photo courtesy of Danica Roem.Submitted by the Office of Delegate-elect Danica Roem
Virginia Delegate-elect Danica Roem (D-13th), filed a resolution Monday to request the Virginia Department of Transportation study alternative intersection designs along the Route 28 corridor in the Yorkshire area of Manassas, Prince William County.
The proposed study would focus on how to reduce the time commuters sit in traffic north of the City of Manassas Park and south of Fairfax County. It includes examining the intersections at Browns Lane, Maplewood Drive, Leland Road, Yorkshire Lane and Orchard Bridge Drive.
Roem, a freshman delegate, campaigned heavily on fixing Route 28 near the Prince William/Fairfax County line.
"Our commuters need to stop at fewer traffic lights while our residents can safely and promptly enter and exit Route 28," said Roem. "This study will let us know how we can make that happen in the most cost-effective way possible.”
State Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-29th), who represents the Route 28 corridor between the City of Manassas and the Bull Run bridge, endorsed the proposed study, saying, “We need to make sure all options are on the table and fully explored to help commuters that face some of the longest travel times in our country.”
“Relief is long overdue,” said McPike. “Any one that has ever traveled Route 28 understands how important this is.”
According to Roem, the goal of the proposed study is to show residents, commuters and government officials what options would be on the table for replacing the traffic lights, how much they'll cost and when they can be completed.
That includes replacing traffic lights with flyovers, roundabouts, jug-handles, traffic light relocation, traffic light timing resynchronization or other cost-effective options at VDOT's discretion. The study would be due back to state legislators Nov. 30, 2018.
The proposed study is different and separate from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority's "Construct Route 28 Corridor Roadway Improvements" project as well as the NVTA’s “Route 28 Corridor Feasibility Study" between the City of Manassas and Fairfax County.
Roem's proposal addresses improving flow-and-go and would not compete with nor interfere with the NVTA’s projects that focus on increasing capacity to the Route 28 corridor.
The proposed study builds on existing precedent along the Route 28 corridor from the 1990s and early 2000s when VDOT removed all of the traffic lights between Route 7 in the north and Westfields Boulevard in the south, improving commute times through Chantilly, Herndon, Dulles and Sterling.
Most recently, VDOT broke ground in November for the Route 28-Interstate 66 interchange project in Centreville, which is designed to replace traffic lights with overpasses.
Read the Joint House Resolution here.
According to a Dec. 17 Associated Press Article published by WTOP, Marty Nohe (R), Chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and a Coles District Supervisor in Prince William County agreed with Roem that the road needs to be improved, but disagrees with her on the method.
“What we need is more capacity,” Nohe said, and suggest that adding more lanes would be more effective than removing traffic lights and replacing them with flyovers.
Should Roem's study be approved, it would provide more data that combined with the other two studies could better assist elected officials in determining the best fix for Route 28. It is one reason the study earned bipartisan support among Manassas Park Governing Body members who offered their endorsements in their capacity as individuals, although not as a collective body.
“This is an excellent supplementary study that has the potential to provide more efficient through-put and to augment the larger NVTA-funded Route 28 Feasibility Study, which was designed to add capacity,” said Manassas Park Mayor Jeanette Rishell, a member of the NVTA. “Having been neglected for so long, the need for ANY possible improvements on Route 28 is critical and crucial to our communities, both economically and for our quality of life.”
“I support the resolution requesting a study of all options to alleviate traffic congestion on Route 28,” said Manassas Park Vice Mayor Suhas Naddoni. “We absolutely must review costs and benefits of all options.”
“Route 28 needs a multitude of improvements and it's going to take multiple solutions to solve the congestion problem,” said Manassas Park Councilmember Preston Banks. “I endorse the Route 28 resolution.”
Other councilmembers who have offered their support include Miriam Machado, Hector Cendejas and Donald Shuemaker.
Some additional information has been added to this article by Stacy Shaw of Bristow Beat.
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