The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority wants the public’s input on more than two dozen projects that could drastically change travel in the region.
The projects cover a six-year funding span and involve over $1.2 billion in requests, though the authority acknowledged it’s not immediately clear how much funding will be available.
Launched Friday (April 15), the public input period lasts through May 22. People can comment by email, an online form, voicemail or mail as well as in-person or remote testimony at a May 12 hearing.
Environmental advocates say Fairfax County’s government, residents, and businesses need to drastically accelerate their efforts to go green.
During budget hearings last week, speakers urged the county to increase its funding for environmental initiatives and recommended adopting electric vehicle rebates — which the state hasn’t been funding — as well as zero energy buildings and other measures.
In the morning and afternoon, traffic on Herndon Parkway in the southwestern part of town settles into a sluggish crawl. While some congestion is inevitable in a modern-day commute, some town leaders wonder if another culprit can be to blame: a rise in cut-through traffic in the town.
Councilmember Sean Regan, who is pushing the town to explore the issue, believes a big chunk of Herndon’s traffic problem is caused by out-of-towners who do not live or work in the town. Some are commuters from the west seeking a quick path to avoid the main toll plaza.
Saturday Morning Shooting in Herndon Under Investigation — “Officers are investigating a shooting in the 2100 block of Astoria Circle in Herndon. One person taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Suspect(s) believed to have left the area in a silver sedan.” [FCPD/Twitter]
New Route 123 to I-66 Ramp to Open Tomorrow — “The new permanent ramp from Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road) South to I-66 West is planned to open during the early morning hours on or about Tuesday, April 19. The current temporary left turn and connector ramp from Route 123 South to I-66 West will close as part of this work.” [VDOT]
Fight Leads to Stabbing Near Fairfax Circle — “Officers were called to the location for reports of a group of men fighting. When they arrived, the victim was found with a stab wound to the upper body. The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The victim’s condition was later upgraded, and the victim remained hospitalized. Preliminarily, this does not appear to be a random act.” [FCPD]
Seven Corners Alehouse to Close — “Dogfish Head Alehouse in Seven Corners is closing. Its last day is May 15. A message from the restaurant on social media says ‘Upon renewal of our lease, we were not able to come to terms with the property owner and as such our time has come to an end.'” [Annandale Today]
T-Mobile Might Be Coming to McNair — Multiple commercial real estate firms reported that telecom giant T-Mobile has signed a lease for almost 200,000 square feet at 2340 Dulles Corner Blvd. An update from one firm suggested the deal had not yet closed, but if accurate, it would be the largest first-quarter lease in Northern Virginia. [Washington Business Journal]
Walkability Still a Challenge in Tysons — “The area known to county planners as Tysons East…has seen significant investment over the past decade…But those areas are separated from each other and neighboring developments like the Tysons Corner Center Shopping Center and Tysons Galleria by major highways, limiting the suburb’s ability to truly feel like an urban center.” [Bisnow]
New Reston Fire Station Celebrated — “Thank you @ChiefJohnButler and @ffxfirerescue for a great grand opening of the new Reston Fire Station this morning (4/16) We appreciate all you do for our community!” [Walter Alcorn/Twitter]
FCPS Hires New HR Assistant Superintendent — “Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand has named Sherry Wilson, who currently serves as director of Human Resources in Chesapeake (Va.) Public Schools, to the role of assistant superintendent, Department of Human Resources, effective June 1, 2022.” [FCPS]
It’s Monday — Rain starting in the afternoon. High of 47 and low of 39. Sunrise at 6:29 am and sunset at 7:50 pm. [Weather.gov]
The weekend is almost here. Before you get distracted by panda videos or head to bed for some much-needed sleep after avoiding those pranksters, let’s revisit the past week of news in Fairfax County.
Here are the 10 most-read stories on FFXnow this week:
Ideas for potential stories can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the county are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.
Crust Pizzeria Napoletana has opened in the Town of Herndon at 360 Elden Street, bringing its pizzas — made in a traditional wood-burning oven shipped from Naples — to life.
This is the second location for the business. The first opened in Tysons nearly eight years ago.
Owner Kevyan Ejtemai, who was inspired to launch the pizza business after a honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast, says the tight-knit nature of the town attracted him to open a location in the Town of Herndon.
The widening of Route 7 is roughly 60% complete, remaining on schedule for completion by July 2024.
The $314 million project is expanding Route 7 from four to six lanes with significant updates at 19 intersections and shared-use paths along both sides of the road between Reston and Tysons. Other projects include replacing the bridge over Difficult Run.
Join our Open House on Saturday, April 23 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
By appointment only by RSVPing.
We invite you to join The Kensington Reston for a peek inside our community at our Hello Spring Open House!
Gather with us to celebrate the warmer weather and longer days of spring. Visit our community to experience the Kensington difference for yourself. From the moment you step inside, you’ll feel an indescribable sense of family, belonging and home.
Stop by and meet our team of best-in-class professionals whose spirit of uncompromising commitment to excellence in care and service is brighter than ever. Learn about how our assisted living and memory care services are multi-faceted and highly personalized. We are a family of families that cherish the fact that every single day, we get to contribute care, attention, and friendship to our residents.
To ensure your safety and the safety of our residents, our Hello Spring Open House is by appointment only. We are fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and we are taking all the necessary precautions to keep our community safe. Our team is also available to meet virtually!
To RSVP, or for questions about joining our Kensington Family or our COVID-19 protocols, click this link.
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
A Reston-based pretzel bakery is vying for up to $60,000 in prize money from a national small business competition sponsored by Barclays Bank.
The only finalist from Virginia, Nordic-Knot was chosen from a pool of nearly 5,000 entries based on criteria like creativity, innovation, and perseverance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Small Business Big Wins” contest is intended to give businesses impacted by the pandemic a big boost.
Fairfax County government employees called on the Board of Supervisors to support workers with its new budget amid staff retention issues and financial pressures.
Union representatives discussed the impact of inflation and rising housing and health care costs on their members’ ability to live where they work during public hearings this week on the proposed $4.8 billion budget.
Fairfax County Public Schools has found its next superintendent, but in the process, it managed the impressive feat of uniting normally opposing factions of the community in protest.
The Fairfax County School Board voted 9-3 last night (Thursday) to appoint Dr. Michelle Reid as the successor to Superintendent Scott Brabrand, who will step down from the position effective June 30.
Starbucks Workers Vote Down Union — “A streak of unionizing at Starbucks has been broken, with workers at a store in Springfield, Virginia, voting against the union.” [NPR, Twitter]
Last Day for Donations — The donation drive to help Ukrainians that the Northern Virginia Regional Commission organized is coming to an end today. Donations can be dropped off in locations in Fairfax County, Alexandria, Arlington and other locations. [Twitter]
Homes are Hot in Dunn Loring — “The Dunn Loring area was the hottest in the Sun Gazette’s Fairfax County coverage area in terms of home-buyer interest over the past month, according to new data.” [Sun Gazette]
Clean Up a Tysons Roadway — “The Great Falls Group @SierraClub will pick up litter & debris on 1.32 miles of Jones Branch Dr, Tysons Corner. Come out to meet & mingle with other Club members, & help clean up a roadway! Litter bags will be provided.” Pickup is on Saturday, 4/23, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. [Twitter]
County Wants Input on Connector Changes — “Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will hold a virtual community input meeting, Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 7 p.m on Fairfax Connector proposed service changes for October 2022. The public is encouraged to give feedback on the proposed changes via an online survey (survey begins Wednesday, April 20, 2022), email, mail and by phone through May 6, 2022.” [Fairfax County Government]
First County Poet Laureate Tenure Ends — “#FairfaxCounty, it’s been an honor to be your first poet laureate. I wrote this poem to mark the end of my tenure and delivered it at tonight’s Board meeting. Thanks for trusting me to serve, @artsfairfax !” [Twitter]
It’s Friday — Clear throughout the day. High of 67 and low of 47. Sunrise at 6:33 a.m. and sunset at 7:47 p.m. [Weather.gov]
A local effort to divert food from landfills, thanks to composting, is expanding.
Fairfax County is adding another farmers market, this one in Kingstowne, to its list of locations where people can drop off unused food for reuse.
People can drop off the food scraps during the farmers market hours, which for Kingstowne takes place 3 to 7 p.m. Fridays starting May 6.
Reston Museum is putting a spotlight on the community’s oldest village center with the release of its latest book.
Authors Cheryl Terio-Simon with Eric MacDicken introduced the book, “Community is what it is all about: an ode to lake anne,” at Reston Community Center’s Jo Anne Rose Gallery during Founder’s Day on Saturday (April 9).
The book charts the development of the Lake Anne Village Center since it was built in the early 1960s. It contains over 100 photos of modern and historic sites in the village as well as artwork by local painter Pat MacIntyre.
After a year of readjusting to in-person learning, local students now have a new option for getting some additional academic support.
Starting today (Thursday), all Fairfax County Public Schools students have unlimited access to online, on-demand tutoring through Tutor.com, and thanks to an infusion of federal coronavirus relief funds, the services come at no cost to families.
FCPS announced in late March that the tutoring services would become available for the final months of this school year as well as the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. Superintendent Scott Brabrand called the service “an academic booster shot” that would help students without further straining the school system’s teachers, ABC7 reported.
