Bulova requests $5 million from VDOT for widening Route 236

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova has asked the state to spend some of its budget surplus on road projects in Northern Virginia, including $5 million to begin the design work on widening Little River Turnpike through central Annandale.

In an Oct. 19 letter to Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton, Bulova says, “the board believes the state of road maintenance has reached a crisis, due to the inadequacy of funding for transportation statewide.” She points out that a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) financial and performance audit released by Gov. Robert McDonnell Sept. 23 cited “over $1 billion in one-time funding that may be allocated to construction and maintenance projects across the Commonwealth.” Bulova sent Connaughton a wish list of needed transportation projects in the county with a total price tag of nearly $341.46 million.

The widening of Route 236 was included in an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan approved by the Board of Supervisors in July. The $5 million requested by Bulova would cover the design only—not any actual construction—for widening Little River Turnpike between Evergreen Lane and Markham Street and improvements on Medford Drive and McWhorter Place between Ravensworth Road and Little River.

Also on the wish list is $100 million for the Dulles rail project, $4.5 million for pedestrian connections related to the beltway HOT lanes, and 15 other projects in other parts of the county.