Transportation Committee News

Repaving of Old Dominion Drive (VA Route 738) from Georgetown Pike to the entrance of Great Falls National Park is scheduled to begin in late August/early September, weather permitting. The work should take about 3 to 4 weeks. Paving will be done from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. VDOT does not anticipate having to do any of the work on the weekends.

VDOT has been coordinating with the National Park Service on the schedule in light of higher weekend traffic volumes and special events that have been planned over the next few months. Information on the project schedule has also been shared with the Reston and McLean District Police Stations since they are often involved in traffic enforcement in the area on high-volume days.

VDOT has advised that repaving work on Georgetown Pike between Springvale and Seneca Roads is scheduled for July 17th – 24th. Work will be performed from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM July 17-21 and from 10:00 PM to 9:00 AM July 22-24. Drivers should expect alternating lane closures.

The new emergency access gate on Brockman Lane was activated June 24th but then vandalized within a day. Loudoun County Department of General Services is working to quickly execute repairs to the belt and gear casing. Police from both Loudoun and Fairfax counties are patrolling the area until the gate is operating again.

VDOT Maintenance/Fairfax has confirmed that Walker Road will be closed to through traffic July 6 through 8, 2016 for pipe and wing wall replacement associated with a failed culvert located between Manning Street and Sunnybrook Drive. The southbound lane in this location is temporarily covered with a metal plate. See: http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/northern_virginia/2016/walker_road_closure_july102520.asp

VDOT’s June 16th Public Information Meeting (PIM) on the Route 7 corridor improvements/ widening project provided a new opportunity for Great Falls and neighboring communities to review recent updates to the plans and listen to presentations on stormwater management and the preliminary noise wall study. Many of the recent design changes have come as a result of meetings that the VDOT project team has held with individual homeowners associations and neighborhoods over the past year. Other updates stem from VDOT’s own studies and internal technical review of the plans. Some key “takeaways” from the meeting are noted below.

• Improvements have been made to the Baron Cameron and Colvin Run West intersections to improve access.
• A pedestrian passage/tunnel is proposed at Colvin Run Mill to connect the north and south sides of the park on either side of Route 7.
• Thirteen (13) stormwater outfall locations, i.e. ponds, are being planned. Five (5) of these ponds are in Great Falls, and all but one is wet. VDOT is trying to shape the ponds for minimum impact to trees and the surrounding environment.
• Sound walls are considered “reasonable and feasible” in two sites on the north side of Route 7 in the Great Falls area. Whether these walls will be constructed has yet to be determined, and the proposed locations are preliminary and subject to change.

For more information on changes to the plans, stormwater outfall ponds, and preliminary sound wall locations in the Great Falls area, see Route 7 Corridor Improvements Project.docx

VDOT is currently seeking feedback from the community on the proposed plans. Comments will be accepted through June 30, 2016 via email or post: connectroute7@vdot.virginia.gov OR Attn: William Dunn, P.E., VDOT, Northern Virginia District, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030.

For further details on aspects of the plan affecting Great Falls, see TRN’s newsblog: http://gfca.org/Transportation-News. To review the plans, video presentations, brochure, and other materials from June 16th meeting, see VDOT’s website: http://www.connectroute7.org/.

The community is invited to attend TRN’s July 5th meeting to hear more about transportation issues associated with the proposed drive-through pharmacy on Seneca Road at Georgetown Pike. Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh PC, representatives for the developer, will be providing further information as a follow-up to GFCA’s June Town Hall during which questions were raised about traffic patterns and access, increased congestion, and driver and pedestrian safety.

The meeting will be held in the Meeting Room, Great Falls Library, starting at 7:30 PM.

For more information on the commercial development and special exception application see Seneca Corner.pdf .

Over the past few days there has been a lot of talk on the local social networks about trees being removed near the new development at 1039 Springvale Road. According to the engineer working on the project:

• The trees have been removed in order to extend public water lines to the new development.
  
• An 8’ wide trail will be installed along the edge of the development on Springvale Road. (Note: This is in accordance with the county’s trail plan.)
  
• A turn lane will NOT be constructed (as there are only 5 houses).
  

NPS Press Release: The National Park Service (NPS), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, is re-initiating a planning process for the rehabilitation of the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP). The NPS is accepting public scoping comments through July 8 to inform the beginning stages of an Environmental Assessment (EA).

Scoping is the first phase in developing an EA for the rehabilitation project. Scoping comments help determine alternatives and address issues or concerns related to the proposed project.

The project, which is not currently funded, will address the rehabilitation of the GWMP from Spout Run to Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) in Virginia. The EA will analyze: reconstructing the asphalt pavement and constructing new concrete curbs; replacing drainage inlets and culverts; stabilizing erosion at drainage outfalls; improving safety to roadside barriers; options to reconfigure the interchange at Route 123 and GWMP; and other small project elements.

Designed as a scenic roadway and memorial to the first president of the United States, George Washington, the GWMP now supports more than 33 million vehicles per year, with the northern section seeing the heaviest amount of daily traffic.

Public Open House

A public open house to discuss the conceptual plan and answer questions about the project will be held at the GWMP Headquarters building located within Turkey Run Park at 700 George Washington Memorial Parkway, McLean, VA, 22101. The open house format meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

How to Comment

Members of the public and organizations are encouraged to provide comments no later than July 8, 2016, via online submission through the National Park Service Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) project website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/northparkway.  PEPC is used by the agency to manage official correspondence and analyze public comments during the planning process. From the project website, navigate the menu on the left hand side of the page to “Open for Comment.”

Comments may also be submitted by mail to the address below:

Superintendent, George Washington Memorial Parkway, c/o Turkey Run Park, McLean, VA 22101

Comments must be entered into the PEPC website or postmarked by July 8, 2016, to receive consideration. Please be aware that the entire comment submitted – including personal identifying information such as address, phone number, e-mail address – may be made publicly available. Requests to withhold such personal identifying information from public release will be considered, but there is no guarantee that they will be withheld.

There has been a lot of discussion in the last week on Nextdoor Great Falls about signs along our local roads. The following information drawn from the Fairfax County website may address some of the issues raised by residents.  (Ref. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/signs/signremovalprogram.htm)

Fairfax County removes signs that are illegally put on or along SELECTED roads (see below) under a program that started on July 1, 2013. This includes political campaign signs, advertising signs and more.

Signs will be regularly picked up every week between Tuesday and Thursday by the Sheriff’s Community Labor Force (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/comm-laborforce.htm). Signs will NOT be cleaned up based on public complaints.

The county is removing signs to assist the Virginia Department of Transportation—but VDOT is still responsible for maintaining the roads.

What You Should Know

• Signs will not be removed from neighborhood streets—only selected major roads across the county. Create or join a VDOT Adopt-a-Highway group to remove signs from neighborhood streets and other roads.
  
• The clean-up program does not address signs on private property. For complaints about signs on private property only, use this online form. Learn more about the rules for signs on private property and other locations.
  
• Only signs will be removed from roads—not trash or litter.
  
• Contact VDOT about signs that cause a safety hazard on the roads at 1-800-FOR-ROAD, TTY 711, or use VDOT's online form.
  
• After the county removes a sign, it will be stored for five calendar days at the I-66 Transfer Station where it may be reclaimed. Signs will be destroyed after five days. However, VDOT's Adopt-a-Highway groups may collect signs at any time on their designated roads, and they may destroy these signs immediately.
  

For more information about the county's sign removal program, call 703-324-SIGN (7446), TTY 711.

Roads in the Sign Removal Program

Roads in or near Great Falls that are included in the county's sign removal program include: Georgetown Pike, Springvale Road, Old Dominion Drive and Route 7.