FAIRFAX, Va. — Easing backups on the Fairfax County Parkway will begin with $5 million in changes at three intersections under a corridor study presented Tuesday by the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.
The study, which looked at the stretch between Interstate 95 and Telegraph Road, recommends four improvements that could all be completed within about five years.
The cheapest, and quickest to implement, would be a realignment of the Backlick Road intersection with the parkway to eliminate part of the current set up of a double intersection for drivers. Restripping the road and other minor changes are projected to cost about $96,000.
The most expensive project would add a new auxiliary lane southbound between U.S. 1 and John J. Kingman Road at Fort Belvoir. That is projected to cost around $3.2 million.
Two other recommendations would add or extend left turn lanes to keep cars waiting to turn out of the main lanes and block traffic for vehicles traveling straight through the intersection.
The first, at the Kingman Road intersection, would extend the southbound left-turn lane at a cost of about $460,000.
The second, on Terminal Road, would add a left turn lane along the eastbound approach at a cost of about $1.5 million.
Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s Neil Freschman says the four projects are designed to address very specific problems, so while they will help the whole corridor, they are not complete solutions.
“Some of the projects, such as the one at the Backlick Road connector, could be implemented more quickly, (but) some of the others are going to take several years,” he says.
The study includes potential future projects to ease congestion at Loisdale Road and Telegraph Road in addition to further changes at the Kingman Road intersection.
The next step is to secure funding for the nearer-term projects.
