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This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
In a partisan vote Tuesday, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors took into consideration a new design proposed by the transportation department for the Route 28 bypass project.
The board’s consideration of the new design allows the transit office to attempt to move forward in negotiations with Fairfax County leaders to potentially move along the stalled project that some officials believe is past the point of resuscitation.
Once the initial design work is complete, the board will decide between the originally proposed alignment, the new one or to not complete the final design work and stop the project.
The new design would bypass the section of existing Route 28, which is Centreville Road, in Prince William by extending Godwin Drive across Sudley Road as a four-lane divided roadway with a shared-use path and connect with Route 28 at a signalized intersection north of Bull Run Stream in Fairfax County, according to county documents.
There will be no tie-in with Lomond Drive, as officials say that would be disruptive to the neighborhood there. A new, longer and taller bridge over Bull Run and through the Bull Run Regional Park would replace the current bridge there.
Many houses would need to be knocked down and residents displaced in Prince William County near Alleghany and Boundary avenues for the bypass to be constructed, including several in the Bull Run Mobile Home Community.
While Prince William officials say the county will help residents whose homes will need to be taken relocate, how exactly that will be done is unclear. Three Prince William businesses and a few Fairfax homes would also be impacted, according to Prince William Transportation Director Rick Canizales.
“It’ll be difficult to get homes for a lot of these people, so we are looking at and thinking of creative solutions and will come forward to the board if any of those solutions are fruitful,” Canizales said.
Fairfax buy in
The project is still in its design and engineering phase. What was presented Tuesday is still considered preliminary and potentially subject to change in the future.
The new design’s right-of-way faces an uphill battle with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which has been at an impasse on the project for years. According to Canizales, consultants said the project is possible without entering Fairfax County, which leaders in the county next door seem to support. But going that route would affect more homes and businesses in Prince William. Still, the option could be considered by the board, Canizales said.
“I worry that we do not have our fate in our own hands,” he said. “We are not carrying the water on the project completely, and we have to depend on someone else to help us out with it.”
Intended to alleviate congestion along Route 28, the controversial four-lane road was approved by the Board of County Supervisors in September 2020. The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority has allocated $89 million for the project. Any costs not covered by the NVTA or other grants would come from a Prince William infrastructure bond referendum approved by voters in 2019.
Preliminary traffic analysis done by the county’s transportation department projects that 25 years out, the project would ease congestion on Route 28, Sudley Road and Liberia Avenue in Manassas and other thoroughfares.
But in and around the two termini of the road, on Centreville Road in Fairfax and Godwin Drive in Prince William, the projections are for slightly worsening traffic. That analysis also included the potential for an eight-lane Route 28 in the area of the bypass, as is currently envisioned by Fairfax’s long-range plan.
‘Kill the whole bloody thing’
Following tense exchanges among Prince William supervisors, the new path forward was backed by the Democratic majority of Chair Ann Wheeler, Neabsco Supervisor Victor Angry, Occoquan Supervisor Kenny Boddye and Potomac Supervisor Andrea Bailey.
Republicans Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir, Coles Supervisor Yesli Vega and Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson opposed the measure.
Woodbridge Supervisor Margaret Franklin was absent and did not vote.
Republicans were angry that Democrats insisted on moving forward with a project they characterized as “dead,” since some officials believe cooperation from Fairfax County is out of reach.
“Why don’t we just call it a day and be done with this once and for all? … Perhaps it’s just time to kill the whole bloody thing and save us some time and money and some aggravation,” Weir said. “It’s pretty clear nobody wants it except certain vested interests.”
Democrats were more optimistic about the future of the proposal. Wheeler maintained there remains great interest in the project among residents who wish to see a reduction in traffic congestion.
“The truth is, it is not dead,” Wheeler said. “It’s still on the table.”
Republicans also raised concerns about the residents who would be displaced and were frustrated with the lack of answers from Canizales about what will be done to relocate them.
“Let’s not forget, madam chair, that you and the majority preach this big game about equity and inclusion, about advocating for Black and brown communities – you can’t have it both ways,” Vega said to Wheeler. “The bulk of the people that you’re displacing are members of minority communities, are they not? But now, all of a sudden, that doesn’t matter.”
