By Rick Holt, Chairman, Active Prince William
Active Prince William applauds the Prince William Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) for rejecting the Route 28 2B alignment on August 4 (see Agenda Item #10B, starting at 4:18 on the recorded video). We further agree that doing nothing to fix Route 28 through Yorkshire is not an option; however, widening Centreville Road itself by adding two general-purpose travel lanes would disrupt many businesses.
VDOT’s Centreville Road (Route 28) STARS (Strategic Targeted Affordable Roadway Solutions) Study, championed by Delegate Roem, recently recommended a $38 million package of intersection, raised median, and pedestrian improvements that–in the absence of general roadway widening–1) would significantly reduce intersection delays and expand vehicle capacity and pedestrian access along Route 28 and 2) was ripe to receive VDOT SMART SCALE funding for design and construction in spring 2021.
Unfortunately, proceeding with widening Route 28 itself through Yorkshire could make the sensible and cost-effective STARS Study recommendations infeasible. Therefore, we encourage the BOCS to explore an alternative approach, integrated with a new land-use plan (Small Area Plan) for economic development and revitalization along this corridor. Alternative 4 could be modified to include a new multimodal street just to the west, so highway investment could stimulate transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment of the properties between and fronting the existing and future sections of Centreville Road. Integrated planning could foster the creation of a vibrant new livable community with affordable housing at a key gateway to Prince William County.
