RSSCommission pursues additional Route 28 improvements
Transportation officials are considering additional improvements to aid traffic flow along Route 28.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved funding Monday for studies of spot improvements on three segments of the key north-south highway, which connects Route 7, the Dulles Toll Road, Route 50, Route 66 and Route 29 between Sterling and Centreville. Spot improvements can include additional lanes, such as acceleration and deceleration or turn lanes.
The Virginia Department of Transportation will study improvements to:
--Route 28 southbound between Sterling Boulevard and the Dulles Toll Road
--Route 28 northbound between McLearen Road and the Dulles Toll Road
--Route 28 southbound between the Dulles Toll Road and Route 50
The $1.1 million study will receive money from the Route 28 Tax District fund, a special commercial real estate tax district that has been used to fund a series of major improvements to the highway, including 10 new interchanges that replaced stoplights.
The study will generate information about potential right of way the state would need to buy to widen the road, as well as provide a thorough cost estimate for completing the work, according to a county staff report. That will allow state and local officials to assess how to pay for the construction.
Ongoing improvements to Route 28 are funded via a public-private partnership between the state and Clark Construction, which is performing the construction work, and are primarily paid for by the tax on businesses in the Route 28 corridor.
The Route 28 Tax District Commission, which oversees the use of the tax district funding, recommended the spot improvement study.