Fairfax County dropped in two proposals and Arlington County one in the latest “Commuter Choice” funding swepstakes overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
Funds from tolls collected on Interstates 95 and 395 are used, in part, to support congestion-mitigation efforts of local governments and transit agencies. An estimated $45 million is anticipated to be distributed in the coming cycle.
Submissions were due Jan. 27, with preliminary scoring of the projects slated for March, public comment in April and a vote by the commission later in the spring. The Commonwealth Transportation Board will have the final say.
Submissions for consideration totaled just under $110 million from the governments of Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties plus the transit systems DASH (Alexandria), Virginia Railway Express, OmniRide and Fredericksburg Regional Transit.
The Fairfax County government is seeking $20 million in support of a bus-rapid-transit project in the Richmond Highway corridor, connecting Fort Belvoir to the Huntington Metro station. The county also is seeking $1.75 million to continue a subsidy for Fairfax Connector Route 396, which connects the Backlick Road area to the Pentagon.
The Arlington government is seeking $6.4 million for enhancements to Metrobus 16M service, which connects Skyline to Crystal City.
