Falls Church Transportation Projects Funded In Regional Program

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The City of Falls Church's downtown mutimodal improvements and West Falls Church Metro connectivity projects will receive funding from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) as part of its six-year, fiscal year 2020-2025 program. On Thursday, the NVTA approved 21 of 41 projects requested by 13 Northern Virginia localities and agencies.

Despite an estimated $240 million net revenue loss for the six-year program during the pandemic, the authority provided $539 million in funding for the 21 projects. Falls Church's two projects were among 17 fully-funded projects, which have sufficient funds to advance to construction. The remaining partially-funded projects can advance to the early phases of project development but not necessarily completion.

Localities with approved projects include Arlington County, City of Alexandria, City of Fairfax, City of Falls Church, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, and Town of Dumfries. Projects were also approved for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, NOVA Parks, and Virginia Railway Express.

"The adoption of the Six Year Program Update demonstrates an ongoing commitment to a multimodal approach that addresses Northern Virginians’ mobility needs and challenges, and supports the region’s economic vitality, while providing an economic stimulus to the region’s economy," said Phyllis Randall, chair of the authority and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

The authority's main purposes is to update Northern Virginia's long-range transportation plan, as well as prioritize and fund transportation projects to provide congestion relief. In 2013, a Virginia law established dedicated funding for Northern Virginia transportation projects for the authority to carry out its work. Membership is made up of nine Northern Virginia localities: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park.

See the full list of 21 approved projects funded by the authority and project descriptions.

NVTA funding for Falls Church's downtown project will focus on Park Avenue and West Broad Street, and the portions of Washington Street and Virginia Avenue between those roads. The project seeks to:

• Increase pedestrian accessibility with the installation and possible enhancement of two midblock crossings, sidewalk widening and removal of sidewalk obstructions (including utility lines), and redesign of intersection geometry
• Increase bicycle accessibility by accommodating bike routes from the City's adopted Bicycle Master Plan, and recently installed bikeshare facilities
• Reduce automobile congestion by increasing mode choice
• Improve safety of the transportation network by installing curb extensions and improving crosswalk accessibility and visibility at six total crossings/intersections
• Leverage the existing pedestrian/bike infrastructure to increase integration between modes and promote first and last mile connections to nearby transit

According to the project milestone timeline, design, engineering and environmental work would happen in fiscal year 2021. Right-of-way acquisition would follow in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, and construction would happen in fiscal year 2026.

The West Falls Church project seeks to better connect the W&OD Trail with the West Falls Church Metro station after a pedestrian was killed on Shreve Road in 2019. A new multi-use path would connect the W&OD Trail and West Falls Church station, install a crosswalk near the intersection of Shreve Road and Gordon Road, install benches near the trail entrance.

The timing would be coordinated with the George Mason High School campus redevelopment project and West Falls Church Transportation Project. Design, engineering and environmental work would happen in fiscal year 2024, followed by right-of-way acquisition in fiscal year 2025 and construction in fiscal year 2026.

The authority put out a call for regional transportation projects in July 2019. Over 41 projects were reviewed, and around 1,000 public comments have come in during the process. According to the authority's executive director Monica Backmon, 85 percent of comments were focused on four approved projects: the two Falls Church projects, Arlington W&OD Trail Enhancements, and Prince William County's Van Buren Road North Extension: Route 234 to Cardinal Drive. Backmon noted the majority of public comments on the Falls Church projects were supportive.

With the new funding program and four previous programs, the authority is advancing 106 regional transportation projects. The projects, totaling almost $2.5 billion, are aimed at reducing congestion in the region.