Widening Of Balls Ford Road Near I-66 In Prince William County Complete

MANASSAS, VA — The recently-completed widening of Balls Ford Road in the Manassas area of Prince William County was celebrated with a ribbon cutting last week.

Balls Ford Road is a key connection between Sudley Road and Prince William Parkway near Interstate 66. The widening project turned Balls Ford Road into a four-lane divided road between Doane Drive and Ashton Avenue in the Gainesville District.

"Glad you brought it on time, on budget," said Gainesville District Supervisor Bob Weir at the ribbon cutting.

Along with more road capacity, the project provided a 16-foot-wide grass median, a 10-foot-wide shared-use path and a 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalk on the south and north side of Balls Ford Road, respectively.

Prince William County Department of Transportation Director Rick Canizales said the project is part of a greater effort in the area to address congestion and improve mobility.

"I’m very excited about this project, about another ribbon cutting here in Prince William County, another ribbon cutting here out on the west end," said Canizales. "We just had one a few months back on the other side of this bridge, that great interchange out there. Well this is the adjacent site."

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority recommended $48 million in regional transportation funds for the project. The funds came from the I-66 Express Mobility Partners, which completed I-66 Express Lanes outside the Beltway between University Boulevard in Gainesville and the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County.

Monica Backmon, CEO of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, said the Balls Ford Road project "rounds out" improvements to the University Boulevard extension, Prince William Parkway at University and the OmniRide Western Maintenance Facility.

"We really like to see the groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings because that allows the taxpayers to see where these dollars are going," said Backmon. "We move and reduce congestion, we move people and that has an economic impact component to it, but it also means that people are spending less time commuting so that they can do other things."

The Balls Ford Road widening is part of Prince William County's transportation capital program of more than $1.3 billion, which includes road widenings, interchange projects, sidewalk projects and more.