Thursday, April 5, 2012
VDOT may sell road naming rights to raise money.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
By Ryan Murphy Capital News Service RICHMOND – As the state budget inches closer to passage by the General Assembly, the Virginia Department of Transportation is hoping to raise money by selling the naming rights for roads, bridges and highway stretches. “We look for revenue generation opportunity where we can, and we try to be creative with it,” VDOT spokeswoman Tamara Rollison said. She said it has been a struggle for VDOT to maintain Virginia’s infrastructure in light of the department’s financial troubles. “Our resources and revenues have been dwindling over the years,” she said, noting that a 1986 gas tax increase was the most recent serious increase in revenue. “When we can find innovative ways to partner with the private sector and …
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Residents can check their area "snowmap" with VDOT pilot program.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Galloping Way to Hunter Mill Road closed until about 3 p.m.
A section of Lawyers Road in Vienna, from Galloping Way to Hunter Mill Road, will be closed for most of Thursday after high waters from Wednesday's storm made the area impassable. Both the eastbound and westbound lanes of the road are closed, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Drivers should find an alternate route. There were a number of road closures countywide after yesterday's rain storm, Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said.
Monday, November 7, 2011
New configuration has bike, turning lanes.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Karen Goff
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Monday, November 7, 2011
Goodbye, construction equipment and flashing signs. Hello, bike and turning lanes. The project to repave and restripe Soapstone Drive from Lawyers Road to Sunrise Valley Drive is in the finishing stages and completed in most segments. The 1.5-mile stretch was also given a "road diet," and it now includes bike lanes on either side, one lane in each direction and a turning lane. The new configurations should improve safety and mobility for cyclists and pedestrians, reduce speeds, and reduce crashes by about 30 percent, says Randy Dittberner, Virginia Department of Transportation traffic engineer. The project, which was under construction for about two weeks, has met with mixed reviews from residents, some of whom predict traffic tie-ups …
Monday, October 31, 2011
In their response to the first of six questions posed by Patch, the candidates for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors discuss county versus state control of area roads.
The four candidates running for chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors answered six questions by email for Patch. We will feature one question over the next six days, with the unedited answers by each of the candidates. Incumbent Democrat Sharon Bulova (website, Facebook, Twitter) Independent Christopher DeCarlo (website, YouTube) Republican Michael “Spike” Williams (website, Facebook) Independent Will Radle (Facebook, YouTube) Question #1: Should Fairfax County take local control of its roads, as some surrounding jurisdictions, or allow VDOT's continued control? Explain. Sharon Bulova The State is increasingly making overtures about turning the road system (which is now pretty much entirely a State responsibility) over to …
Monday, October 17, 2011
Road to get "diet" and bike lanes.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Karen Goff
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Monday, October 17, 2011
The project to restripe and reconfigure a 1.5-mile stretch of Soapstone Drive begins with milling this week, and motorists are advised the new traffic pattern will begin on Saturday, Oct. 22. Electronic signs were put in place over the weekend to warn drivers and residents of changing traffic patterns and construction delays. The new configuration - which will include a turning lane, should improve safety and mobility for cyclists and pedestrians, reduce speeds, and reduce crashes by about 30 percent, says Randy Dittberner, regional traffic engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Residents are not so convinced. To read a recap of the plans, along with dozens of comments from users of Soapstone Drive, click here.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
VDOT making progress on storm damage repairs.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says repairs are underway on the Hunter Mill Road bridge in Reston that was damaged in the Sept. 8 deluge from Tropical Storm Lee. The bridge remains closed between Crowell Road and Chamberlain Drive, but VDOT is making repairs to the bridge approach and shoulder damage, as well as washed-out pavement. Barring inclement weather, Hunter Mill Road should reopen by Oct. 7, a VDOT spokesman says. Also, in Reston VDOT crews placed a temporary steel plate over the sinkhole on Sunrise Valley Drive near Glade on Sept. 16. Permanent repairs and pipe replacement will be complete by the end of October, VDOT says. “Despite heavy rain for the past several days our crews and contractors are making steady …
Thursday, September 22, 2011
South Reston street getting new lanes, which should increase safety and mobility, VDOT says.
Starting in October, Soapstone Drive in Reston will become the second route in Northern Virginia to go on a “road diet,” as crews re-stripe 1.5 miles of the road to reduce through lanes and add turn and bike lanes,the Virginia Department of Transportation announced. The new configurations should improve safety and mobility for cyclists and pedestrians, reduce speeds, and reduce crashes by about 30 percent, says Randy Dittberner, VDOT traffic engineer. VDOT and neighborhood residents discussed a new look for Soapstone, which has issues with street parking, a lack of consistent sidewalks and blind spots, at two community meetings last year. In May, Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins said by bundling the changes into regular re-striping, …
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Soapstone's summer "road diet" project still hasn't started.
Back in May, the Virginia Department of Transportation presented a plan to Restonians about a multimillion dollar restriping and "road diet" project on Soapstone Drive. The project - which would give Soapstone a new configuration of turning lanes and bike lanes while cutting down on traffic accidents - was supposed to start over the summer. Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins estimated in May that the project would cost at least $3 million, but if done at the same time as regular repaving and restriping then VDOT could foot the bill. Summer has come and gone without a traffic cone on Soapstone. What happened? VDOT Regional Traffic Engineer Randy Dittberner says the project is still on, albeit delayed. The agency is firming up the schedule…
Friday, August 12, 2011
VDOT engineer explains early plans for Hunter Mill Road bridge over Difficult Run to community
Road closures are scheduled for the temporary replacement of the Hunter Mill Road bridge over Difficult Run within the next month, but residents at a community meeting Monday focused on the plans for a permanent bridge that will cost an estimated $3 million. Once in place, the temporary bridge, which is estimated to cost $300,000 and paid for through state maintenance funds, is safe to use for decades if properly maintained, but VDOT hopes to have the permanent bridge planned and constructed in one to three years. VDOT has not yet announced the dates for the temporary bridge construction, but predicts it will be in late August or early September. The road will close over one weekend to allow for construction of the two-lane bridge. "We …
Chris Taylor Moller
9:38 am on Wednesday, November 9, 2011
@ Richard: There was nothing wrong w/Soapstone Drive the way it was. The money used for this project came from some sort of federal grant. It should have been spent on needed repairs not needless, wasteful wish-list items such as bike lanes on Soapstone Drive. The people in government who made the decision to spend the money this way should be held accountable for wasting our hard earned tax … more ›