Business Owners Chime in on Route 1 and 123 Interchange

Phase one of the is still two years away from major construction. But, business owners affected by the plan are voicing their concerns.

A handful of business owners met with Virginia Department of Transportation officials and Woodbridge district Supervisor Frank J. Principi in a morning town hall meeting on Tuesday in Woodbridge.

Although public comment has closed on the matter, Transportation & Land Use Director from VDOT Maria Sinner said that her team received nearly 1,700 comments regarding the interchange plan following the town hall meeting last month.

To Sinner, the public’s input is one of the most important parts of the process.

“I’m thrilled,” Sinner said of the surge of comments. “That is an indication that the process is working.”

Business owners from , Harbour View, Woodbridge Shopping Center, Vulcan Materials Company and the were present at Tuesday morning’s meeting. The meeting served as an opportunity for individual business owner’s concerns and questions to be addressed as the project moves forward.

The improved roads are a long ways away.  Sinner said that the funding is not formally in place for phase one of construction or the right of way acquisitions.

“It is in the Governor’s transportation package and that needs to be worked out from a lump sum of $4 million,” said Sinner.

Right now, the process is stuck in a sort of chicken and egg proposition. Business owners want to know how they will be affected by the expansion of Route 1 and the improvements to Occoquan and Horner roads. However, the right of way team cannot let the business owners know until a design has been approved.

A design plan must be taken to the VDOT Chief Engineer by May 11 to begin the right of way acquisition in 2012 and the utility easements, so that the rest of the plan remains on schedule.

around the vision for, which is slated to finish around 2036. Under the current design plan, roads would be able to accommodate a larger flux of traffic that is anticipated under the 2036 plan.

That anticipation is proving to be a hiccup in gaining access to an “island of mixed use development” that is formed out of the plan’s design for Horner and Occoquan roads.  Access would be limited to those businesses but access roads could be added in the future when developers become involved later on. 

Dixie Bones BBQ owner Nelson Head, whose Woodbridge staple restaurant is located near the intersection of Occoquan Road and Route 1, expressed concern for the roundabout plan.

“Access to existing businesses is being jeopardized for something that will happen 20, 30 years down the road,” said Head. “It seems…backwards to me.”

But, as consultant to the VDOT project John Maddox pointed out ­ – which comes first, the development or the roads?

“No one has a magic ball for the perfect solution,” said Sinner. “We have to present a plan for federal approval.”

In total, 41 businesses, two families and one nonprofit are affected by the right of way acquisition plan and would be totally relocated.

Tara Atkins, VDOT’s Relocation Agent, said that if a business moves prior to the project’s start date there would be no payment for their move. But, if businesses sit tight, there is relocation assistance available to help fund moving costs, reestablishments or just a flat lump sum.

Brian Costello with VDOT’s right of way team said that he would prefer that businesses get to sit on the property until the last possible minute but that before the project can begin, all affected properties have to be purchased.

Costello said land is appraised and settled with a business owner on a case-by-case basis, a process that will hopefully begin later next year.

Funding is paramount in getting this project started. On May 4, in Fairfax, the Commonwealth Transportation Board will announce a six-year plan of which the board can approve funding for the proposed plan in Woodbridge.