Community Input Wanted!
Local Transportation Issues
The Great Falls Citizens Association (GFCA), McLean Citizens Association (MCA), and the Reston Association have formed a joint subcommittee to pro actively work with our elected officials and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) experts to ensure that the interests of our respective communities are considered. The Transportation Committee solicits your opinion on certain local transportation questions and invites you to attend their meetings. For more information, Click here.

Georgetown Pike Recognition
On October 29, the Great Falls and McLean Citizens Associations, GFCA and MCA, jointly held a Georgetown Pike recognition ceremony honoring ten bipartisan retired and active officials, elected and non-elected, all of whom were or are leaders in preserving the Pike as a two-lane historic byway. The Brix Bistro ceremony was attended by almost 50 guests, all of whom had been active participants in protecting Georgetown Pike, one of the Commonwealth's early turnpike roads that best retains its original engineered structure and alignment. The earliest snow in a century did not mar the formal "dedication" of a roadside marker near the western Route 7 entrance to Georgetown Pike, one of four installed commemorating the roadway as Virginia's first Byway.

Big Win on the VDOT Issue on Route 7 Turn Lane and Seneca Intersection
Transportation Committee convinced our elected officials of the community’s strong interest in a change in VDOT’s plans, which originally would have funneled more traffic onto Georgetown Pike and changed its historic nature. Making this change possible were Supervisor John Foust, Delegate Barbara Comstock, State Senator Janet Howell, and Congressman Frank Wolf. This was a real demonstration of successful community advocacy.
The tradition of honoring the Lords and Ladies Fairfax began in 1984 as a way to recognize the accomplishments of the outstanding citizens of Fairfax County. Each member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors selects two people from their district who have demonstrated outstanding volunteer service, heroism or other special accomplishments to receive the award. We are proud that Lady Joan K. Barnes and Lord M. Eric Knudsen were selected for the Dranesville District.

GFCA Transportation cochairs Eric Knudsen & Joan Barnes (both on the left) discussed progress with Delegate Barbara Comstock and Supervisor John Foust (both on right)

FRIDAY MAY 6, 2011 - Today the District Administrator of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Northern Virginia District Office met with Dranesville Supervisor John Foust to present his department’s revised plan for the widening of Route 7 in the vicinity of Georgetown Pike.

VDOT District Administrator Garrett Moore’s plan, click here, extends the existing single left turn lanes from Route 7 onto Georgetown Pike and from the Pike onto Seneca Road.  It allows both southbound lanes of Seneca Road to turn right onto Georgetown Pike and adds both a second left turn lane and a second right turn lane from Georgetown Pike onto Route 7.  Georgetown Pike was one of Virginia’s earliest engineered roads and because today’s roadway retains that historic significance it has been determined eligible for the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.  These modifications to the existing intersection will accomplish improved traffic operations and meet safety requirements within the existing paved area of Georgetown Pike that overlays the historic engineered roadbed width and alignment.

The plan was drafted in response to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (BOS) July 27, 2010 request that the project design be revisited.  The BOS cited ongoing community concerns with the project.  In spring 2010, at meetings open to the general public for comment, both the Great Falls Citizens Association (GFCA) and the McLean Citizens Association (MCA) adopted resolutions regarding the project and citizens’ concerns.  These concerns were raised beginning in public meetings in 2000 and a 2003 hearing on the project and as recently as a November 2009 VDOT public information meeting attended by 150 people.  Over 2000 citizens had signed a petition objecting to the earlier designs which significantly widened and realigned the intersection. Virginia General Assembly members Senator Janet Howell and Delegate Barbara Comstock and United States Congressman Frank Wolf had joined Dranesville Supervisor John Foust and the Fairfax County Board in requesting VDOT to respond to the communities’ concerns and had taken action with appropriate Commonwealth and Federal departments to support resolution of the outstanding issues.

 The revised plan was provided to Great Falls historian Karen Washburn, a consulting party to the redesign, and she has informed VDOT that this conceptual design preserves the historic alignment of Georgetown Pike. The GFCA Transportation Committee at its May 3 meeting, voted unanimously to recommend that the Association’s Executive Board concur with the plan.  The Executive Board did so in a resolution adopted May 5.  In her letter to VDOT, GFCA President Jackie Taylor stated that the Resolution concurs with VDOT May 2, 2011 Conceptual Sketch for the project, requests an implementation commitment, and supports the design of Route 7 widening to the Dulles Toll Road with expedited construction of the segment to Reston Parkway.  She applauded the District Administrator and VDOT staff for the collaborative effort they used to resolve community issues that had existed for over a decade and expressed that “We look forward to this continuing cooperation into the implementation of this project and the design of the remaining widening.”

GFCA Transportation Committee Co-chairs Joan Barnes and Eric Knudsen estimate that in addition to the many actions of innumerable community members in support, more than 50 individuals from Great Falls, McLean, and beyond, have committed their time to directly working on this project over the past four years.  In the meeting, Mr. Moore expressed his sincere appreciation for all the time and effort community members contributed to the resolution of the redesign.

Mr. Moore’s May 5 letter transmitting the plan stated “It is VDOT’s intent to move forward with the detailed design based on this concept.” In the meeting, VDOT confirmed its commitment to continued coordination with the County and community on the detailed design and construction plans.