* Route 29 and Bull Run Post Office Road: Much-needed traffic improvements will be made in the vicinity of Route 29 and Bull Run Post Office Road in Centreville. The project will consist of right- and left-turn lanes from Route 29 to Bull Run Post Office, a traffic signal at that intersection and the widening of Bull Run Post Office to two lanes where it meets Route 29. VDOT will install the signal, but the county is responsible for putting in the left-turn lane for northbound traffic on Route 29. Both of these things are slated to be done in early 2004.
* Parkway Interchange: The Fairfax County Parkway between I-66 and Route 50 carries some 60,000 vehicles per day, with 118,000 vehicles per day projected by 2025. So VDOT wants to widen Fairfax County Parkway within the existing median to six lanes — three in each direction — between I-66 and Route 50.
But it says an interchange — already in the county's Comprehensive Plan — is also needed to deal with the congestion. Currently, because of heavy traffic and the stoplight at the Fair Lakes Parkway intersection, northbound Fairfax County Parkway backs up to the I-66 interchange during morning rush hour.
Similarly, southbound Fairfax County Parkway traffic is backed to the Route 50 interchange during the afternoon rush. And shopping centers along Fair Lakes Parkway also draw weekend motorists. Fair Lakes Parkway would include signals at ramp intersections, but Fairfax County Parkway would be free-flowing, without a stop there.
The interchange is in VDOT's Tentative Six-Year Plan, containing $11 million for preliminary engineering and partial land-acquisition. But no funds are as yet earmarked for construction and transportation officials are considering various design alternatives for the interchange.
* Route 28 Corridor: Because of monetary, air-quality and insurance concerns, what was initially intended as a 10-interchange, eight-lane project has been scaled back to six interchanges and six lanes — at least for the foreseeable future.
Shirley Contracting Corp. and The Clark Construction Group entered into a public/private partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to do the road project. The work area is along the 14 miles between I-66 in Centreville and Route 7 in Loudoun County.
But until the region meets federal air-quality standards, Route 28 will remain six lanes, and just six interchanges — at Barnsfield Road, Westfields Boulevard, McLearen Road, Routes 625 and 606 and the CIT exit — will be constructed. Barnsfield will connect Route 28 to and from the new National Air and Space Museum Annex.
* Summit Drive and Route 29: VDOT recently began preliminary work to install a new traffic light at Summit Drive and Route 29. Supervisor Elaine McConnell's (R-Springfield) staff worked hard to make this light a reality, and the new traffic signal is expected to be up and operational by the beginning of September.