Written Public Comments
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Sree Nampoothiri From: Keith Jasper Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 5:03 PM To: Sree Nampoothiri Cc: Yolanda Thomas-Jones Subject: FW: Over the Fencepost Community Newsletter May Mid-Month 2018 Just realized you were not copied on this one. From: Monica Backmon Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2018 4:52 PM To: Keith Jasper <[email protected]> Subject: Fwd: Over the Fencepost Community Newsletter May Mid‐Month 2018 Monica Backmon Executive Director 703‐642‐4650 (O) 571‐355‐4176 (C) Northern Virginia Transportation Authority The Authority for Transportation in Northern Virginia 3040 Williams Drive ® Suite 200 ® Fairfax, VA 22031 www.TheNoVaAuthority.org Begin forwarded message: From: "Nohe, Marty E." <[email protected]> Date: May 19, 2018 at 4:38:23 PM EDT To: "Calder, Bob" <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Over the Fencepost Community Newsletter May Mid‐Month 2018 Mr. Calder‐ Thank you for taking the time to share these comments with me and with the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. I will pass these on to the NVTA staff and asked that your comment to be included as part of the public record. I will share with you that each of the three corridors which you identified as a priority for Prince William County are being considered for funding by the NVTA this year, and some of them are also being considered for funding from the Commonwealth transportation board next year. Generally speaking, the NVTA does not fund improvements to interstate highways as these projects are generally considered to be the responsibility of the Commonwealth, and because any interstate improvements that we might make will usually be of a magnitude that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to fund them using the limited regional funds that are managed by the NVTA. That said, the 1 NVTA is considering funding improvements along Route 1 in the town of Dumfries to provide additional congestion relief for those days when I‐95 becomes particularly problematic, which will be coupled with the other improvements that we have made, or are in the process of making, along other sections of Route 1 in Woodbridge as well as in Fairfax County. I will also share that Prince William County has requested funding from the Commonwealth Transportation Board to add an additional lane to I‐95 southbound from the Route 123 exit to the Prince William Parkway or to Route 234. That project has not yet been funded, but will continue to be a priority for the Bard of County Supervisors. Improvements along the Route 234 bypass are a top priority for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and we have requested $172 million in funding for five projects to upgrade all of the intersections north of Lake Jackson to grad‐ separated interchanges to allow more throughput and eliminate the need for drivers to queue at red lights during congested periods. Prince William County has already received approval for funding for an interchange at Balls Ford Road, and I am optimistic that the NVTA well find at least one or two of the interchange improvements on Route 234 that will dramatically increase traffic flow and provide for better travel along this heavily congested corridor. You may have noticed that the county is also coming into the last steps of a project to improve the intersection at route 234 and Hoadly Road, and while this specific improvement is small on scope, we believe that they will have a big impact on travel flows at that intersection when they are open later this month. Route 28 is not only the top priority for Prince William County, but for all of the other jurisdictions through which this highway passes as well. Prince William County, the city of Manassas, the city of Manassas Park, and Fairfax County have collectively requested over $200 million dollars from the NVTA in the next six years to add capacity to the route 28 corridor. In Prince William County, where widening Route 28 through the Yorkshire neighborhood would be shockingly expensive and unnecessarily impactful on existing commercial businesses, the county is planning a bypass Road that extends Godwin Drive west of the city of Manassas around the Yorkshire neighborhood so that it can reconnect to Route 28 at or near the Bull Run bridge. Fairfax county has sufficient right of way to widen Route 28 between the Prince William County line and US 29 to as much as eight lanes as necessary and is currently designing that project for construction over the next several years. All of these improvements will tie in to the upgraded interchange at I_66 and US 28 which will be constructed as part of the I‐66 outside the beltway express lanes project. All told, The NVTA and the Commonwealth will be investing approximately $650 million into this corridor over the next several years. Any project of this magnitude certainly takes some time to plan, design, and construct. Please rest assured that congestion relief on Northern Virginia’s most crowded highway will continue to be a top priority for Prince William County and the NVTA until the problem is off. I hope this feedback is helpful. If you have any questions, or at my office can assist you in any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. Yours‐ Marty Nohe Martin E Nohe Coles District Supervisor 703-792-4620 County Mailstop EA707 www.facebook.com/Coles.District www.colesdistrict.org 2 From: Calder, Bob [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 8:48 AM To: Nohe, Marty E. <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Over the Fencepost Community Newsletter May Mid‐Month 2018 I did a quick review of the proposed 60 transportation items and I guess I am missing something. I don’t see where it addresses what I think are the priorities for PWC: 1. Alleviation of traffic on I-95: Fredricksburg to Springfield is a nightmare everyday and worse on weekends in the summer. There are delays each morning just getting to I-95 each morning. I’d like to see what the NVTA thinks the bottlenecks are and what could address these. Perhaps another way to get to Route 123 across the Occoquan would help get people from PWC into Fairfax? Perhaps there are significant number of people that need another crossing into Maryland—perhaps warranting a crossing near quanitco across the Potomac? Or another river crossing in or around fredricksburg to alleviate the daily bottleneck there. Perhaps more would use metro or the VRE if the parking wasn’t full or ??? I guess it would be nice to have data to show the bottlenecks then a plan to resolve them. 2. The increased traffic on Rt 234….the bypass has made put this road at or above capacity each morning and evening, with much of the traffic being trucks. Planning should ensure that it doesn’t become more clogged. With Colgan high school causing additional delays each morning, afternoon, and on many many nights, I would have hoped to see some improvements to this access included in the plan. 3. Route 28 remains a disaster. Again with data, I would hope that you have collected why/where most of the traffic is headed to see if this can be mitigated. Are the users continuing north of I66, or dropping off at I-66? Would some of this be diverted if there was another path across the Occoquan (perhaps extend hoadly north to 123). I know that major development will be unpopular with a NIMBY sentiment, but the plans laid out look like small tweaks in local areas to get support of each member vs a master plan that will have a meaningful impact across the region. Bob Calder Lockheed Martin RMS Phone: 703-367-3719 or cell: 571-228-6587 From: Nohe, Marty E. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 2:12 PM To: BOCS Coles District <[email protected]> Subject: EXTERNAL: Over the Fencepost Community Newsletter May Mid‐Month 2018 Dear Neighbor- Attached is the May 2018 edition of my Community Newsletter, Over the Fencepost. To open the newsletter, you will need Adobe Reader. Free software can be downloaded from this website: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will be holding a Town Hall in Prince William County on Thursday, May 17 at Loch Lomond Elementary at 7 pm. The subject will be NVTA’s Six Year Program. 3 More information on the program, including a list of the projects in Prince William, are on page 1 of the newsletter. The Transportation Planning Board will be holding a Public Forum on May 23 at 7 pm to solicit comments on their Visualize2045 Long-Range Transportation Plan. The Public Forum will be held at the McCoart Building in the Board Chambers. Background information on the plan and topics to be covered are on page 4 of the newsletter. We are aware that some people are receiving more than one copy of this message. If this applies to you, or if you would like to unsubscribe to this newsletter, please let me know and we’ll clean up the list. Have a good weekend! -Marty Nohe Martin E Nohe Coles District Supervisor 703-792-4620 https://www.facebook.com/Coles.District www.colesdistrict.org 4 Coalition for Smarter Growth • Piedmont Environmental Council Prince William Conservation Alliance • Sierra Club Virginia Chapter • Southern Environmental Law Center May 9, 2018 Hon. Martin Nohe Chairman, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority 3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200 Fairfax, VA 22031 Dear Chairman Nohe and Members of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority: The Coalition for Smarter Growth, The Piedmont Environmental Council and Prince William Conservation Alliance are submitting these comments on NVTA’s 6-year plan (FY2018-23).