In the end, GFCA OKs firehouse
By Monty Tayloe
Last week the Great Falls Citizens Association voted to endorse the design of the Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department's new firehouse, a building that was opposed by many Great Falls residents and much of the GFCA ever since designs became public.
As it has been planned for over a year, the new 18,700-square-foot, $13 million firehouse will be constructed on the 2.1-acre site of the current station, eliminating a part of the station's parking lot which has become a popular cut-through route for commuters. According to a traffic study, the cut-through – which passes just a few feet from the firehouse -- receives 1,300 car trips in a 24-hour period.
To compensate for the loss of the cut-through, Supervisor John Foust has secured a half-million dollars to construct a right-hand turn lane from Walker Road onto Georgetown Pike.
“We're going to improve the intersection and reevaluate the traffic signal,” said Fairfax planner Ken Lim, who is in charge of the firehouse project.
According to Fairfax County Department of Transportation planner Tad Borkowski, the intersection improvements should keep the intersection of Walker and the Georgetown Pike at the same level of service as now, despite the additional traffic burden caused by eliminating the cut-through.
“We ought to have a celebration,” GFCA Executive Committee member Rich Bliss said.
“I really didn't expect this,” said Great Falls resident and volunteer firefighter Svetlana Cueto of the GFCA endorsement. “Unfortunately, there's been a lot of opposition in the past.”
Cueto probably meant the past few years, but she could have been talking about the past few minutes of the GFCA's meeting. Right up until the vote, members of the crowd were still trying to find any possible alternative to the current design for a new firehouse.
After all suggestions were shot down by county planners, Bliss called for the vote of support, which passed narrowly.
“This situation ... is publicly irresponsible,” said John Colby, a resident who has advocated for the cut-through road to be preserved.
Along with the traffic issue, many object to the new station's reliance on a “pump and haul” septic system. However, the current firehouse is already dependent on pump and haul.
The GFCA endorsement and the movement of the design through the approval process are both good things for Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department President Jerry Smith, who said the meeting held few surprises.
“We've heard all this before,” Smith said. “I don't think most of the community feels that way.”
To Cueto, the new building, slated to begin construction in fall 2009 can't come soon enough.
“That [existing]building is like a third world country,” Cueto said.
Email the reporter at mtayloe@timespapers.com