Transportation Improvements, Economical Transition Needed for North Woodbridge

• Editor's Note: This is part two in our series on the Smart Growth Symposium held by Frank Principi on Thursday. 

The future looks bright for North Woodbridge, but it will take a lot of resources to get the community to where it needs to be.

Woodbridge residents and business owners convened with regional experts to hear about the future of  Thursday at Harbour View.  

The themes for Thursday’s meeting were density, development and community. A master plan for New Woodbridge, which was approved by the Board of County Supervisors last year, has started to take shape but is still a long-range project.

TRANSPORTATION

The North Woodbridge interchange has been a popular topic in the community of late, and Principi shared he has some concerns with design that he has shared with VODT.

“Each and everyone of those 1,700 comments will be addressed by VDOT and Prince William County as we move forward,” said Principi.

The planned 23-foot-high flyover to Belmont Bay will help foster better access into the community, which Principi said is needed for more retail development.

Interior Woodbridge roads will see improvement, including revitalization of Annapolis Way and extension of Horner Road (also known as Gordon Plaza Road).

Principi also spoke to the Potomac Heritage trail alignment and a pedestrian walkway over Route 1 from the Virginia Rail Express station to Station Plaza. 

Principi estimated about a billion dollars are being put into the North Woodbridge project, without the North Woodbridge interchange in development by VDOT.

TRANSITION OF ECONOMY

 “You have two choices, one is to establish North Woodbridge’s capacity for mixed use or something less than that,” said Dr. Stephen Fuller of George Mason University.

Fuller spoke of the forecast for Northern Virginia and said that Prince William County’s economy is actually going to do better and that in 2030 it can double.

“It’s what happens when county’s transition from bedroom to employment centers,” said Fuller.

Prince William County has potential to shift economy from residential to export-based business, which is mostly in Manassas but can move to Eastern Prince William, said Fuller.

Fuller said building a mixed-use development where people sleep and work in the same community would become normal.

“What distinguishes this place from all other places where this development could go it multi-modal transportation,” said Fuller citing highway, railroad and potential water taxi combinations.

“It would be really important in the long run to get Metro down to Quantico,” said Fuller of future transportation improvements for the larger picture of Woodbridge. Fuller cited as all transportation and utility improvements as essential basic public services.

The area has under used land resources, said Fuller, and that makes Woodbridge unique.  But, in order for the area to be successful a handful of transportation projects need to happen. 

“Density is not a four-letter word. Density is critical,” said Fuller. Along the themes of what Princpi has talked about in the past when mentioning the revitalization of North Woodbridge, Fuller highlighted that public investment needs to come first and then private investment will follow.