Route 7 to Expand to Six Lanes to Ease Congestion

Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), will be expanded by one lane in each direction from Tysons Corner to Reston Avenue hanks to $10 million in funding from the state of Virginia, Dranesville Supervisor John Foust says.

Foust has championed expanding Route 7 from four to six lanes to relieve current congestion and to prepare for even greater traffic as the redevelopment of Tysons Corner underway. The $10 million will pay for engineering studies to determine how much the roadway can be widened.

"In my opinion, it is critical that Route 7 be widened from Tysons Corner to Reston to handle existing and projected traffic to and through Tysons Corner," Foust said in an e-mail. "When the Tysons Corner Comprehensive Plan was approved, I had that project added to the list of transportation funding priorities in the plan."

State Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston, McLean, was key to getting the funding for the seven-mile expansion, Foust said.

Total daily traffic on Route 7 north of the Dulles Toll Road  is 65,000, according to Fairfax County.