Funds, Environment Two Major Drawbacks To Creation Of Controversial Road

This is the first in a two-part series examining the feasibility of connecting Manassas to Dulles International Airport with new roads. This week's story focuses on the Tri-County Parkway; next week's story will focus on the bi-county Route 234 extension.

Earlier this month, Manassas Delegate Jackson Miller (R-50th) attempted to revive the idea of creating the Tri-County Parkway as an alternative route for motorists to go to and from Dulles International Airport.

Meanwhile, plans are still in the works for the Prince William Parkway (Route 234) to be extended from its northern intersection at Interstate 66 all the way up to Dulles as a sort of bi-county parkway.

That 234 extension was the route preferred by VDOT for the Tri-County Parkway, though it cut through only Prince William and Loudoun counties, making it more of an unofficial bi-county parkway.

But is either proposal still feasible and can they actually be worked out without also reviving the fights from three years ago that bogged down the Tri-County Parkway and hampered the bi-county route?

Tri-County Parkway

Miller does not claim to be an expert in road construction, but to him, the Tri-County Parkway would serve an immediate need with his constituents in Manassas and Manassas Park stuck in traffic along Route 28 each day during rush hour.

“There is no other project that would take more relief off the 28 corridor,” said Miller.

He and Prince William County Supervisor Wally Covington (R-Brentsville) both support the creation of the Tri-County Parkway and the Route 234 extension, though they prioritize each one differently.

The common threads holding back each one are funding and environmental concerns, though both weigh more so on the Tri-County Parkway.

When the General Assembly failed to approve a new transportation funding package this year, any revenue that would be set aside for new road construction died out, too.

One suggestion brought up by Miller is for either parkway to be limited to toll-access and be developed as a private-public partnership.

“I know that the state has given us the power to do a toll road,” said Covington. “The problem is, you have to have both of the other counties” on board in the case of the Tri-County Parkway, as it would run through Prince William, Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

The road would start at the intersection of Sudley Road and Godwin Drive in Manassas, snake across Bull Run Regional Park in Fairfax, cut northwest near the eastern corner of the Manassas Battlefield, head up northwest of Fairfax Park and connect to Route 50 at South Riding in Loudoun County.

Environmental issues raised three years ago by those aligned with the preservation of Bull Run Regional Park effectively ended discussions about the three-county road, as it would have cut across wetlands and potentially harm or destroy land and valuable plants, like bluebells.

“Where the Tri-County Parkway would cut through the park is very narrow there,” said Miller. “You're not cutting a huge swath through the big circular part of the park; you're cutting through a very narrow section. So you're not taking lots of land.”

But some of those who opposed the road before cited concerns directly related to the environmental issues.

“It's very damaging environmentally. It's very costly, and it doesn't solve all the problems, “ Charles Smith of the Prince William Wildflower Society, said at a 2005 town hall meeting.

At the time, the price tag for the parkway was estimated at $547 million.

Equestrian groups also protested.

“We feel the effects would be devastating to the equestrian community,” Nokesville Horse Society president Jeff Shoup said at the same meeting. He argued that not only would the option wipe out popular horse trails in the park, it would also displace several riding centers in Centreville.

The Virginia Department of Transportation subsequently deemed an environmentally safe passage of the road to be too expensive, according to Rick Canizales, the transportation planning manager for Prince William County.

Canizales has been working on planning related to both potential parkways since 2002. He said the Tri-County Parkway served a different need than the extension of Route 234, which would essentially be a limited-access road linking Manassas directly to Dulles's western end.

“The 28 Bypass was more for getting to the front of the airport along with Reston, Herndon and some of the other activity centers in Fairfax,” he said.

So while the path for that parkway is actually already in place and has been listed in the comprehensive plans for all three counties, state transportation officials have pulled it from their plans.

That's where Miller's public-private partnership and toll idea comes into place.

The problems with that are lingering questions about who will invest in such a proposal when there is intense opposition to it and no state money to back it up.

“If you've got a project that is controversial, it is difficult to get it funded,” said Leo Schefer, president of the non-profit, non-partisan Washington Airport Task Force.

Talk it out

Schefer's group works on promoting the growth of aviation services at Dulles, and he supports the creation of the Tri-County Parkway in the east and a bi-county parkway in the west.

“The first thing I believe you have to do is not take the bulldozer approach,” said Schefer as he explained that road developers need to be sensitive to the opinions of residents.

He listed the Tri-County Parkway stakeholders as county elected officials, citizen groups, environmental groups, land owners and public facilities.

To Schefer, representatives from each group should sit down and meet in a style other than the town hall format that took place in 2005.

“What you don't get is people sitting down discussing,” Schafer said of the town hall format. “You get grandstanding.”

He instead suggests representatives from each affected group try to work out compromises in small settings while keeping the public informed of what happens.

“Now, is it easy? No,” said Schefer as he discussed the possibility of the Tri-County Parkway being resurrected. “Can it be done? Yes. What does it take? It takes consensus.”

Even if environmental groups consented to the development of the Tri-County Parkway, there would still have to be a way to fund it.

Tolls

Covington's problem with tolling the road is that it would be harder for less-affluent people living closer to Route 28 to afford the fees. If a Route 234 extension were built instead, the wealthier people who live off to the west would be better able to afford the tolls.

“I would submit to almost anyone that would listen, the people who live on the Linton Hall Corridor would be able to support a toll road,” said the Brentsville District supervisor, adding, “the people that would use that to get out of traffic, I think they are more closely associated with those who live in [the Linton Hall] corridor.”

Both projects would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

But at a time when the commonwealth is strapped for transportation cash, as are its localities, the fight comes down to which road should be built first.

And when two local officials do not agree on which to prioritize, according to Covington, that could turn off investors.

“It doesn't look like we're in sync in the local area,” he said.

Copyright 2008 The Gainesville Times. All rights reserved.