Questions and Answers from April Tele-Town Hall

Supervisor Principi’s Tele‐Town Hall April 13, 2011 Questions and Answers

Q: Are you addressing the County’s problem with child abuse in the budget scheduled to be adopted on April 26?

A: The Board of County Supervisors added 11 new positions to this program in mid‐2010 and then added $617,556 to the base budget in FY 11 to continue the financial support required for these new positions.

Q: When is construction going to be completed at the commuter parking lot on Horner Road?

A: The construction of the new commuter lot with 650 parking spaces on Telegraph and Horner Road (with improvements to Telegraph Road) will be completed next year.

Q: What is going to be done to fix the problem to the neighborhoods caused by VDOT during last year’s snowfall?

A: Public Works staff has evaluated the damage caused to roads, sidewalks, and curbs and gutters during the 2010/2011 snow season. Imminent safety problems have been prioritized and have been or scheduled to be repaired. To report needed road repairs, please call 800‐FOR‐ROAD.

Q: Are we going to get a dog park in Woodbridge?

A: Yes, the Prince William Park Authority recently acquired land to construct a dog park near the intersection of Minnieville Road and Colby Drive. Once a timetable has been prepared, I will post it at www.NewWoodbridge.org

Q: Why is there three traffic lights on the intersection of Prince William Parkway and York Drive?

A: The Code of Virginia requires VDOT to use the standards described in the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).” The MUTCD requires there to be two signal indications for the major movement of each approach. This is in case one indication burns out or malfunctions, the second would still be visible. In the case of

1the intersection of Prince William Parkway and York Drive there are separate left turn lanes and a separate left turn phase. The left turn has its own individual head. The through and right turns (major movements) all go at the same time and share the same double indicated heads.

Q: Is there going to be any changes to the older town homes off of Powell Creek and Village Gate area?

A: There are not any changes proposed that I am aware of. I know Harbor Station is a development to the east of these homes which may bring improvements to the area once developed. The ownership of Harbor Station is now in transition.

Q: Why isn’t there a sidewalk from Neabsco Mills Road to Potomac Club?

A: Due to past County policies, all of Woodbridge has an inadequate number of sidewalks in the neighborhoods and along Route 1. In years past, the county did not build sidewalks along Route 1 and developers typically did not build sidewalks in our neighborhoods. When I took office in 2008, I told developers that when they come forward with development projects for approval by the Board, they needed to ensure this type of infrastructure is proffered in the project. The Board has also changed our road construction standards to require a sidewalk one on side and a trail on the other for future road projects. Going forward, we will do this right at the time of construction. I have requested a cost estimate from the PW Department of Transportation for this sidewalk request and will post it at www.NewWoodbridge.org.

Q: What immediate provisions are being made to accommodate BRAC traffic going to Quantico?

A: In 2007, Prince William and Stafford County formed the Quantico Growth Management Committee, co‐chaired by Supervisor Maureen Caddigan. The additional 24,000 defense‐related jobs transferring to Fort Belvoir and Quantico Marine Corps Base is expected to increase traffic, expand classroom sizes, and burden other infrastructure. The Committee has been successful in widening Russell Road (west of Interstate 95) and Route 1 (Joplin Road to Brady’s Hill Road). The County has also been successful in adding capacity to the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and Potomac Rappahannock Transit Commission (PRTC) OmniLink and OmniRide bus services.

Q: I commute to Alexandria. When the Mt. Vernon hospital is opened, what will happen to my commute?

A: Currently Mount Vernon Inova consist of 469,792 square feet of hospital, general office, assisted living and mental health facilities. The proposed Mount Vernon Inova will consist of 832,867 square feet of hospital, general office, assisted living and mental health facilities. Average daily trips are estimated to increase from 7,571 vehicles per day to 15,598 vehicles per day (increase of 8,027 trips per day). The impact is expected to be gradual and occur over time). The traffic impacts were estimated out to 2030.

Traffic will either be directed or come from Route 1 to the west or Fort Hunt Road to the east. Route 1 intersections most likely to be impacted are: Route 1/Sherwood Hall Lane, Fordson Road/Route 1, and Boswell Avenue and Route 1. Of these three intersections, Route 1/Sherwood Hall Lane will be impacted the most with an increase of 155 vph in the am (turning right from Route 1 to Sherwood Hall Lane) to 220 vph in the pm (of which 147 will turn South onto Route 1 from Sherwood Hall Lane). This assumes full build out conditions for the hospital.

Fordson Road is scheduled to be realigned and the Fordson Road/Route 1 intersection will be eliminated. Traffic would be diverted from the Route 1/Fordson intersection to the Boswell Avenue/Route 1 intersection. The traffic study assumes this realignment will be complete and operational by 2017. Most a.m. right turn traffic from Route 1 into the Hospital will occur at the Sherwood Hall Lane/Route 1 intersection. Most pm left turn traffic from the Hospital to Route 1 will also occur at the Sherwood Hall Lane/Route 1 intersection.

Site improvements associated with the expansion of Mount Vernon Inova are limited to local streets and are as follows:

• Signal timing improvements/adjustments at the Sherwood Hall Lane/Parkers Lane intersection.

• Construction installation of a traffic signal at the Sherwood Hall Lane /Holland Road intersection.

• Construction installation of a traffic signal at the Parkers Lane/Main Hospital Entrance intersection.

Q: Any new transportation ideas from Woodbridge to DC?

A: Reducing traffic gridlock is one of three goals in the vision of a New Woodbridge. One way to do this is to launch a regional passenger ferry service on the Occoquan, Potomac, and Anacostia Rivers. A stakeholder’s group has been created and has met several times over the last few months. This is a planning group that is comprised of federal, state and local officials representing Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The private sector, military and academia are also part of this group. We are on track to conduct a regional market analysis this fall. It will determine whether there is a need for the service and more simply put, if we build it, will passengers ride it, highest priority origin and destination locations, pricing, etc.

Q: How can we bring jobs closer to home to reduce commuter traffic going into Washington?

A: We need to enable “smart growth” – no more strip malls and urban sprawl ‐ to occur at the four mixed‐use, transit‐oriented, town centers in Woodbridge. While each are at various stages of planning and construction, all will create high‐paying jobs through the office and retail projects integrated into the larger projects. We estimate 10,000 jobs will be created through the completion of Harbor Station, Potomac Town Center, Belmont Bay, and North Woodbridge. Once constructed, residents may live at one, work at a second, play at the third, and shop at the fourth location. Each Town Center will adopt its own personality and culture and create a sense of place/community.

For example, the North Woodbridge Town Center is still in its planning stages with its own Master Plan in the PW Comprehensive Plan. The area includes 160 acres (Occoquan Road to the Occoquan River between Interstate 95 and Route 1) and anticipates the construction of 750,000 square feet of office space, 500,000 square feet of retail, 260‐room hotel, and 3,500 multi‐family housing units, e.g., luxury condos.

The smart growth approach to planning would result in a walkable, bicycle‐friendly, compact neighborhood with restaurants and retail stores on the first floor, office space on the second and third floors, and homes on the top floors. Vertical mixed use of newly constructed buildings will be environmentally‐friendly, utilize structured parking, and include pocket parks, trails, and green space.