County seeks more funding for Seven Corners ring road

The failure of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to fully fund the Seven Corners ring road will not delay the project, says project manager Nanditha Paradkar with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

The ring road is a massive effort to reduce congestion by creating a road around the Leesburg Pike/Arlington Boulevard/Wilson Boulevard intersection.

Funding setback won’t cause delays

The NVTA approved just $4.2 million for the $94.8 million ring road project, while fully funding many other transportation projects in its recently released six-year plan for 2022-27.

There were insufficient funds to fully meet the $94.8 million request submitted by Fairfax County, NVTA spokesperson Erica Hawksworth said. “The approved partial funding amount of $4.2 million is sufficient to fund the project’s preliminary engineering phase, so this will at least enable the project to advance.”

Fairfax County is also applying for funds under Virginia’s Smart Scale program and might apply for federal funds. too, Pandakar said.

“We will seek out all sources of funds as opportunities arise,”  added Robin Geiger, head of communications at FCDOT.

The Seven Corners Phasing Study should be done by the end of the year, she said. Design work is anticipated to start in 2026 and construction of the first phase should start in 2030. The ring road isn’t expected to be completed until 2045.

The decision by the NVTA to provide minimal funding “will not cause a delay,” Pandakar said, “We’re doing everything we can to get this project moving.”

Related story: Seven Corners project not fully funded

In evaluating funding proposals, NVTA uses model simulations to estimate congestion-reduction-relative-to cost ratios, considers whether they fit in with NVTA’s TransAction multimodal transportation plan, and weighs long-term benefits for various jurisdictions.

The NVTA also considers a number of qualitative factors, such as whether NVTA has previously allocated funds to a project and whether the project receives funds from other sources.

On July 19, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution calling for the county to apply to the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s 2024-29 Smart Scale program for six projects, including $158 million for the ring road. The application deadline is Aug. 1.

Virginia’s Smart Scale program

In applying for Smart Scale funds, locations must rank projects in the order of priority. The Fairfax County projects are listed in this order:

(1) Richmond Highway widening from Mount Vernon Highway to Sherwood Hall Lane – $35 million.
(2) Frontier Drive extension from the Franconia-Springfield Metro station to Loisdale Road – $225 million.
(3) Seven Corners ring interchange – $158 million.
(4) Town Center Parkway underpass in Reston – $252 million.
(5) Widening Route 7 from Route 123 to I-495 for Bus Rapid Transit – $63 million.
(6) Widening Route 7 between I-495 and I-66 for Bus Rapid Transit – $85 million.

The Smart Scale process considers congestion mitigation, economic development, accessibility, safety, land use, and environmental quality to rank applications. In Northern Virginia, congestion mitigation is weighted the heaviest (45 percent).

The Seven Corners ring interchange project consists of a new road connecting Route 7 on the western side of the existing intersection with a bridge over Route 50, around the interchange to Sleepy Hollow Road, and back to Route 7 on the eastern side of the intersection.

The concept for improving traffic flow around the Seven Corners interchange – along with measures to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety – was included in a Comprehensive Plan amendment approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2015.