Route 1 Improvements at Fort Belvoir Scheduled to Begin Spring 2014

By Raytevia Evans
Officials made themselves available at Wednesday's public meeting about Route 1 improvements to answer questions from Alexandria residents and provide more information as the date to begin construction gets closer.

Representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, Fairfax County, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Department of the Army conducted the meeting at the South County Government Center on Richmond Highway.

Improvements from Cook Inlet Drive to Belvoir Station Road were discussed during the meeting as construction on this segment of the road will begin first in spring 2014.

As construction begins, the work to widen the highway from four to six lanes will disturb traffic as little as possible.

"We're not going to shut lanes down. During the project, we'll have to shift traffic as we work," said Laura Mehiel, design manager for the project. "VDOT has certain times you can shut down lanes for a project, so we'll consider night work as well as work on the weekends."

Tim Wells, lead highway engineer for the highway widening project, said the traffic lights for turning lanes and intersections will also be retimed to accommodate traffic.

The purpose of the $132 million widening project is to provide a transportation infrastructure improvement to support new BRAC medical facilities, relieve traffic congestion along the highway and to improve bike and pedestrian facilities. Transportation improvements along Richmond Highway are "20 years overdue" according to Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay.

The remainder of the project — which will be discussed in a separate meeting later this fall — pertains to improvements east of Pohick Road to east of Cook Inlet Drive and east of Belvoir Road to Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. Unfortunately, the improvements do not continue north towards the City of Alexandria and will create a bit of a bottleneck formation on the major highway, said SFDC executive director Edythe Frankel Kelleher.

"The project goes from Pohick and ends at Woodlawn and this is clearly an improvement that will help Fort Belvoir," said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "Stopping at Woodlawn of course doesn't give improvements going north. Once we have more information about the multimodal analysis, then we can address that section of the road."

Hyland said he thinks some form of rail along Route 1 is what's needed to improve traffic which is already a huge problem daily. Light rail transit (LRT) and metro are two of a few options being considered in the study that's being managed by Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) and conducted by AECOM.

"Either light rail or metro should help take some of the cars off the road, and I think it should extend to Woodbridge in Prince William County," Hyland said at Wednesday's meeting.

Construction for improvements at Fort Belvoir will require right-of-way acquisition. In select locations during the project, additional easements for construction access, drainage and/or utility easements will be required. For more information, consult VDOT's A Guide for Property Owners and Tenants.

The start date for the segment of Richmond Highway from east of Pohick Road to east of Cook Inlet Drive and east of Belvoir Road to Mount Vernon Memorial Highway is expected to begin in fall 2014.

Information on this project will be continuously updated. For more information, visit U.S. Route 1 Improvements at Fort Belvoir.