Update, 5:30 p.m. – Fairfax County Police have re-opened Reston Parkway and Fox Mill Roads in all directions. However, traffic will likely be impacted throughout rush hour.
Update, 4 p.m. — The roads are still closed heading into rush hour. If you are planning to head that way, use Fairfax County Parkway or other routes as an alternative.
Reston Parkway is blocked in both directions from Glade Drive to Fox Mill Road as of 1:15 p.m. Thursday due to emergency repair of a gas line.
Fairfax County Police said construction crews hit a four-inch gas line on Fox Mill near Reston Parkway just before 1 p.m. Crews are working to repair the leak, but it may take more than an hour.
Westbound Fox Mill also closed until the leak is repaired, police said.
Reston is becoming a transit-oriented community, so the streets surrounding transit centers should be laid out urban style.
Without connecting streets the provide better pedestrian, car and bike access, Reston traffic jams could be a much worse problem in the future.
That’s what will be discussed tonight at a meting of the Reston Network Analysis Group. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Lake Anne Elementary School, 11510 North Shore Dr.
The Reston Master Plan calls for an urban-style layout of streets near Silver Line stations at Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Town Center (which will open in 2020). County officials have organized the Reston Network Analysis Advisory Group to get feedback from citizens about about the plans for the street grid.
The new street layout is one of a number of transportation improvements planned for Reston. Among the others: a Soapstone extension to carry cars across the Dulles Toll Road and alleviate traffic on main roads such as Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive; and a Capital Bikeshare network slated to open in about a year.
Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has appointed an advisory group made up of citizens and development reps to study the new street grid layout.
The group has been looking at existing conditions, and is especially concerned with mitigating congestions on Reston Parkway; Sunrise Valley at the Fairfax County Parkway; Spring Street at Fairfax County Parkway; and Rock Hill Bridge (Herndon).
The analysis group has been studying what traffic will be like in Reston in 2050 if congestion is unmitigated. The group is using a figure of 100,000,000 square feet of development, more than three times what it is today.
The group determined that 42 key intersections in Reston will be at an “F” grade for traffic movement.
Take a look at the existing conditions report here:
Reston Network Analysis Umitigated Results: Jan. 11, 2016 from Fairfax County
Residents can also comment online on the Reston Network Analysis page.
See more about the committee’s analysis in the presentation below.
Reston Network Analysis: Existing Conditions from Fairfax County
Photo: Traffic on Reston Parkway/File photo
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) says its goal is to make one lane of all Northern Virginia subdivisions passable by Wednesday at 6 a.m., but the daunting amount of snow is one of many factors that has impeded speedy snow removal.
The agency, which is responsible for most of Virginia’s primary and secondary roads, said in a statement that “crews are making significant progress on 16,000 subdivision streets across Northern Virginia. If residents do not have one passable lane by 6 a.m. tomorrow, they can contact VDOT at 1-800-FOR-ROAD or [email protected].
VDOT says passable is defined as the ability for a rear wheel drive vehicle to operate safely. This means that roads will not be cleared down to bare pavement and will not be cleared curb to curb.
“VDOT has approximately almost four times the amount of equipment available in previous years,” VDOT said. “The type of equipment needed for this phase of the response is of a much larger scale and complexity. The smaller plows that VDOT typically uses in subdivision are effective up to 10 inches of snow. Some neighborhoods of Northern Virginia received upwards of 40 inches of snow and require heavier equipment.”
The blizzard that dumped about three feet of snow in this area over the weekend was “historic,” VDOT officials said. As with previous large storms, (i.e. in 2003 and 2010), they are urging residents to be patient.
Updated, 8:36 a.m. Wednesday. The road has been reopened.
A tractor trailer accident on Leesburg Pike westbound under Fairfax County Parkway is affecting traffic Wednesday morning.
Fairfax County Police said the crash occurred about 5 a.m. and the road will be closed until at least 7 or 8 a.m.
There is a detour around incident routed onto Algonkian Pkwy.
Photo: Fairfax County Police
Fairfax County Police said Fox Mill Road between Lawyers Road and Steeplechase Road in Reston is closed as of 3:45 p.m. Tuesday because a power pole fell across the roadway.
Traffic will be affected for an undetermined amount of time, police said.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says the newly built third lanes in each direction on Route 7 from Rolling Holly Drive to Reston Avenue are now open.
The $34 million project to widen the mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 7 also includes shared-use paths, lengthened turn lanes, a new signal at Redberry Court and intersection improvements at Georgetown Pike and Seneca Road. All work is scheduled to be complete in early January.
Drivers can expect some intermittent daytime lane closures as crews work on the project’s final details, says VDOT.
The expanded lanes should alleviate traffic tie-ups from Reston through Great Falls to Sterling.
Part of Cameron Glen Drive will be closed for construction around the new Fairfax County Police Reston District Station through Nov. 30.
There will be detours to get to various facilities on Cameron Glen Drive.
A detour will be established at the intersection of Town Center Parkway/Cameron Glen Drive. Access to the Human Services Center is uninterrupted, from Bowman Towne Drive to Cameron Glen Drive.
Access to The Glen, 1800 Cameron Glen Drive, is available and unrestricted from Bowman Towne Drive.
Graphic courtesy Fairfax County Police
Fairfax County officials said Wiehle Avenue at Reston Avenue “will be completely blocked for at least six hours.”
Officials said a dump truck hooked a power line at the north Reston location shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
It is not yet known whether the affected power line has caused power outages.
We’re trying here in the D.C. Metro area. Public transportation. Ride sharing. Telecommuting.
No matter, we’re still No. 1 — in commuting time.
A new report produced by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) shows drivers waste more than 3 billion gallons of fuel and were stuck in their cars for nearly 7 billion extra hours — 42 hours per rush hour commuter — in the last year.
Washington, D.C. tops the list of gridlocked cities, with 82 hours of delay per commuter, followed by Los Angeles (80 hours), San Francisco (78 hours), New York (74 hours), and San Jose (67 hours).
TTI says the problem has become so bad that drivers in the worst areas have to plan more than twice as much travel time as they would need to arrive on time in light traffic just to account for the effects of irregular delays such as bad weather, collisions, and construction zones. Anyone who has driven I-66 on a rainy day can attest to that.
So how do you deal with your commute? Take our poll and tell us more in the comments.
Wednesday night into Thursday morning, traffic on eastbound Route 7 between Rolling Holly Drive and Reston Avenue near Great Falls will shift into new temporary lanes as the Virginia Department of Transportation works on widening Route 7.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says the change will begin Wednesday at 9 p.m. and the lane shift should be complete by 5 p.m. Thursday.
In addition, Sugarland Road at Route 7 will be closed to traffic until late September/early October so that the intersection can be reconstructed and improved, says VDOT.
Motorists will be detoured via Fairfax County Parkway. Detour signs will be in place to direct local traffic around the closure.
The work is part of the third phase of construction for the project to widen Route 7 from four to six lanes between Rolling Holly Drive and Reston Avenue. The $34 million project is scheduled for completion in December.
Beware of backups on Wiehle Avenue near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station through Friday.
Fairfax County officials are reporting a short cycle for the traffic lights at Wiehle and Reston Station Boulevard.
That is affected traffic both trying to leave the station area and access it Thursday morning.
Officials said repairs to the lights are expected on Friday.
Emergency vehicles are on the scene of a car crash on Wiehle Avenue at North Shore Drive.
The accident occurred about 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Traffic is backed up on Wiehle from the Dulles Toll Road to Baron Cameron as of 9 a.m.
It is not known whether there were any injuries.
Photo/Courtesy Dianne Rose
More than one million Washington, DC-area residents are getting ready to hit the road for the long July 4 holiday weekend, says AAA Mid-Atlantic.
AAA estimated one-fifth of area residents will travel 50 miles or more from home (and countless residents from other areas will travel to DC for the holiday).
That comprises a 0.4 percent increase in the number of Washington metro area residents who traveled at this time last year, says AAA.
Nearly 90 percent of Washington-area travelers will be driving, which will make for the highest travel volume for the Fourth of July holiday since at least 2001, AAA said.
Since July 4 is a Saturday, most workers have Friday off as an official holiday. That means getaway traffic could start as early as Wednesday night.
Nationwide, AAA says 42 million people will be on the road or on an airplane, up one percent from last year. Nationwide, about 84.7 percent of travelers will drive, which is the highest level for the Independence Day holiday travel period since at least 2001.
“Remarkably, 2 in 10 persons living in the Washington metro area (or 17.2 percent of the area’s population of 5,860,342 people) will venture from home for the July Fourth holiday travel period,” John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs, said in a statement.
“This marks the second time since at least 2001 that over one million Washington metro area residents will take a vacation during the Independence Day holiday period.”
Part of the increase in the number of travelers is due to gas prices, which remain well below levels from July of 2014 and the lowest in five years, AAA said.
In Virginia, the average price for regular unleaded gasoline has dropped slightly to $2.59 per gallon. Today’s price is eight cents higher than one month ago and remains significantly discounted from this time last year with drivers saving an average of 90 cents per gallon year-over-year.
Beltway traffic/file photo
A large tree fell on Hunter Mill Road near Hunter Station Road early Tuesday, breaking two power poles and blocking traffic on Hunter Mill.
Fairfax County officials have closed Hunter Mill between Lawyers Road and Hunter Station as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The road may be closed for eight hours, county officials said.
Crews from Dominion Virginia Power are also on the scene working to restore power to customers in the area.
It’s Labor Day weekend, which means many Restonians are on the move.
Fourteen percent of the D.C. area’s population will be going out of town for Labor Day this weekend, says AAA Mid-Atlantic.
That’s 842,100 local residents on the local roads, rails and airways. Nine out of 10 of those traveling — 735,000 residents — will doing so by automobile, says AAA.
That number is up 0.8 percent from 2013. The lowest Labor Day weekend gas prices in four years are helping to drive the increase, an AAA spokesman said.
“It remains the preferred and cheapest mode of transportation for a couple traveling with children trying to squeeze in a memorable family getaway before the school year goes into high gear,” John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs said in a press release.
Air travel this weekend is expected to dip slightly, down 0.3 percent to 64,200 residents who will be flying out of the D.C. area. Other forms of transportation, like rail, are predicted to dip 0.5 percent to 43,100 travelers.
Are you hitting the road or staying put this weekend?
