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Reports of the revival of the Bi-County Parkway in Prince William County were premature, at least for now.
During its meeting Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors put another nail in the parkway’s storied coffin, directing county staff to no longer consider the road in the ongoing update to the Comprehensive Plan.
The parkway proposes to extend the Prince William Parkway, or Va. 234, to connect with U.S. 50 through the county’s western end.
Like a cicada colony, parkway buzz comes and goes every few years.
In 2016, the board removed the project from its Comprehensive Plan. Two years later, it was again effectively taken off the table.
The proposal was then reconsidered as part of the current Comprehensive Plan update, potentially to serve as a widening of Pageland Lane.
“When staff was reanalyzing the plan, the question was do they relook at the regional road,” said Chair Ann Wheeler, D-At-Large. “We don’t believe that a regional facility up and down the county is needed at this time.”
Wheeler said county transportation staff should be able to manage traffic needs through local projects rather than a regional roadway.
Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, said the project is still identified by the state as a regional need, so it might come forward in the future. If it does, he still opposes it.
“For me and many of my colleagues, the Bi-County Parkway was a nonstarter,” Candland said. “This is the wrong road at the wrong time in the wrong area for the wrong reasons.”
While shutting down revived talks was welcome to supervisors and those attending Tuesday’s meeting, it wasn’t without a little animosity.
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, said the proposal was only being considered because Wheeler had asked county staff to bring it up. Yet Wheeler said she did not advocate for the project.
Eventually, the point of contention was dropped and the board moved forward.
In other business Tuesday, the board was expected to hold a public hearing and vote on a proposed data center development in Gainesville.
Wheeler said the applicant requested the proposal be deferred to a later date.
CTP-II LLC is asking to rezone 22.72 acres from business and light industrial to office mid-rise to construct the data center. The property is owned by Gainesville Sixty-Six LLC and sits at the intersection of Catharpin Road and John Marshall Highway, which is Route 55.
The plans reached the Board of Supervisors on a technicality after the Planning Commission was unable to come to an agreement on a recommendation last month.
The project requires a special-use permit because it is outside of the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District, which is 10,000 acres designated in 2016 to support the industry by reducing regulatory hurdles.
The property is across Catharpin Road from a planned data center on 102 acres dubbed the I-66 and U.S. 29 Technology Park, which is also outside of the overlay district and was approved in December.
