This page contains the July 1995 Briefing on Reservoir and River Crossings Between Prince William and Fairfax Counties developed by the Occoquan Watershed Coalition Transportation Committee.

Issues:

• The Problem
• The Occoquan Reservoir
• Human Health and Safety
• Proposed Routes
• Geopolitical Impacts
• Parkland and Wetland
• Cost Implications
• The East-West Policy
• What Should be Done

The Problem

• More existing lanes over the Occoquan (20) than from New Jersey to Manhattan (16), with 15 additional lanes planned from the I-95/123 corridor.
• According to VDOT, 3 of 4 vehicles remain in their own corridor.
• VDOT indicates less than 3% go to Fairfax City and environs.
• Prince William is moving to 4-lane Yates Ford Road.
• A parkway to parkway connector would put an additional 45,000-60,000 cars onto the Fairfax County Parkway which will already be at Level E service.
• The water supply reservoir is threatened by two existing roads and 12 alternative routes.
• Relief in the two corridors is needed, as is a solution to the current threat to the water supply.

The Occoquan Reservoir

• The Occoquan Reservoir provides drinking water to 880,000 people in Fairfax County (85%) and Prince William County (15%).
• The Reservoir is considered by the Virginia Department of Natural Resources to be the second dirtiest lake in the State.
• In 1985, Fairfax County established a forest buffer and downzoned the majority of the watershed. Prince William County, asked to do the same, refused, and later allowed high density zoning.
• Unlike other reservoirs across the nation, and counter to both federal guidelines and best management practices, two roads cross over the top of the reservoir.
• In June 1995, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution requesting VDOT prohibit the transport of hazardous materials on roads over the top of the reservoir (Yates Ford Road and Davis Ford Road).
• Protection of the reservoir is the centerpiece of citizen concerns about transportation planning needed to resolve the level-of-service problem on the two major corridors.

Human Health and Safety

The Water Supply:

• The reservoir is one of the few in the nation with roads already directly over the water. This is a continuing and immediate long-standing threat that grows worse with increased traffic, especially truck traffic.
• Engineering in Prince William guarantees flushing of parking lot wastes and lawn/shrub pesticides into the reservoir with every heavy rain.
• Synthetic Organic Contaminants targeted by the US EPA have been identified in the reservoir water.
• This water is not carbon filtered to remove organic contaminants.
• Protection of surface water sources of drinking water.
  • Feeder rivers - emergency booms should be pre-positioned but are not.
  • Reservoirs - contamination sources should be eliminated, but are growing.

Emergency Services:

• Traffic loads during rush hour delay fire, police and ambulance response on many roads to over 25 minutes.

Traveler Safety:

• Roads are no longer safe for local children waiting for school buses or cyclists.
• School buses stopped for pick-up create back-ups that have caused many collisions, some very serious.
• Postal delivery vehicles and trash pick-up personnel are at serious risk.
• Roads are not safe for commercial truck traffic.

Improving Safety:

• Physical upgrades to rural roads attract more traffic, increasing dangers. The only way to improve safety is to reduce traffic on these rural residential roads.

Proposed Routes

• 23 Routes, 5 in the west, 12 in the center, 2 in the east, 4 poorly defined.
• Routes were offered by citizens (C-routes) and staff (S-routes). None reflect engineering studies.
• There are two basic corridors, Route 28 (western) and I-95 (eastern).
• All 12 center proposals directly threaten the drinking water reservoir.

Geopolitical Impacts

Impacts in Mt. Vernon District
Planned Route 123, I-95, Hooes Road upgrades will negatively affect 45 homes in the Mt. Vernon District. Cut-through routes on Hooes & Lorton Roads will be made major routes.

Impacts in Sully District
Planned Route 28 upgrades and the Tri-county connector will reduce cut-through traffic in Rocky Run, reduce delays at the Route 28/29 intersection and reduce traffic on Union Mill Road.

Impacts in Springfield District
15 of 19 routes are in this District. The best Springfield routes (S-2) takes 8 homes, diverts traffic from over the reservoir to the planned corridors and improves safety on district roads without imposing delays on Route 28 or I-95/123.

Parkland and Wetland

• Federal law requires that any road taking parkland must be the best alternative.
• Only the new eastern crossing misses parkland, a condition that may not last.
• Only the eastern and western crossings miss the reservoir.
• Of all western and central crossings, only the Manassas eastern by-pass (C-1), the short Springfield District crossing (S-2) and the Sully District route (C-15) have small parkland impacts.
• Several reservoir crossings are also laid on top of creek beds.
• Any reservoir route encourages high density development of the remaining undeveloped wetland and watershed in Prince William County.

Cost Implications

• Cost is relative to road length (lower bar) and bridge area (shaded bar).
• The road cost of a new eastern crossing added to that of a Springfield connector above the reservoir would provide twice the capacity at the same or less cost of almost all central crossings.
• Reservoir crossing costs would increase still further due to frontage road needs.
• Reservoir crossings average 28 intersections. The new eastern crossing has 6 (5 in Prince William County) and the Springfield connector above the reservoir has 7.

The East-West Policy

• Mt. Vernon and Springfield District citizens accept the need for a 15 lane expansion of capacity in the East. (1-95 by 3 lanes (1-HOV), Route 123 and bridge by 4 lanes, Hooes Road by 2 lanes, Route 1 by 2 lanes), and in conjunction with development of the engineering proving grounds and the DC Prison site, a new 4 lane crossing east of the dam and west of Occoquan.
• Mt. Vernon, Springfield and Sully District citizens strongly endorse the accelerated expansion of Route 28 to 1-66.
• The Fairfax County Citizens' Workgroup endorses the first two points. Using the unsympathetic viewpoint of the Prince William County Supervisors as their rationale, the Workgroup sent a message that they expect Prince William County to solve any remaining problems.

HOWEVER

• Citizens from all three districts have, at one time or another, accepted the need to examine the utility of an eastern by-pass around Manassas, remaining below Bull Run; AND,
• Springfield citizens accept the need to shoulder the responsibility of reducing direct threats to the reservoir associated with traffic on the Yates Ford Bridge by recognizing their civic responsibility to seriously examine a Manassas by-pass that would cross Bull Run and affect about 8 Springfield District homes, should no better route below Bull Run be available.
• These planks in the defacto Regional East-West policy also reflect the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' decision to study the threats to the reservoir. Their resolution asking VDOT to restrict the passage of vehicles carrying hazardous cargo from over the reservoir also reflects this policy.

What Should be Done

1. Protect the Occoquan Reservoir and its Watershed - This is consistent with numerous affirming actions and decisions by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Increased use of the Occoquan Reservoir and its Watershed for transportation purposes is contrary to the County's history of past and recent actions, comprehensive land use plans, and policies on human health and the environment regarding the reservoir and its watershed.
2. Improve Major Transportation Corridors in the East and West - Fairfax County must be in charge of its own destiny to determine the best routes to take commuters to their job centers. The fact that Prince William County is unilaterally building a four lane road from their parkway to the Yates Ford Bridge should not influence the decision process.
3. Emphasize a Mix of Mass Transit Alternatives - We must decrease the amount of vehicular traffic throughout the region. Greater emphasis must be placed upon improved rapid transit opportunities, telecommuting, metro, Virginia Rail Express (VRE), and "people movers", etc. Like New York, there is a limit to the number of commuter lanes and cars that Fairfax County can safely accommodate. There are currently more lanes over the Occoquan than from New Jersey to New York.
4. Integrate Transportation and Land Use Planning - Any transportation plans affecting the reservoir or roads in the downzoned portions of the watershed must be consistent with land use restrictions established in these areas. Fairfax County has established protections in these environmentally sensitive areas after careful planning and foresight, and has resisted numerous challenaes to these oolicies. Prince William County's land use.
5. Expedite Transportation Improvements Presented at the VDOT Annual Pre-allocation Hearing - A number of Fairfax County organizations (Springfield District Council, Town of Clifton, South Run Coalition, Federation of Lorton Communities and the Occoquan Watershed Coalition)worked closely together to identify and prioritize transportation projects that affect our area, particularly inter-county traffic. Priority recommendations by the Occoquan Watershed Coalition were presented orally and submitted in writing on March 30,1995.
6. Return the Occoquan Watershed Area to Its Normal Rural and Residential Setting - Improve safety and return congested roads to normalcy by imposing traffic reduction measures over the Yates Ford Bridge. Any widening or improvement of the roads in the central area will draw increased and faster moving cut-through traffic from the south which will degrade safety, the environment, and ultimately impact the viability of the reservoir and its watershed.
7. Form a Citizens Task Force Now - The formation of a Citizens' Task Force now to work with the Fairfax/Prince William Joint Subcommittee and all future activities up to and including construction of new roads is essential in order to reach the best solution to our commuter problem. Experience from the 1-95 Study and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Study proves that a Citizens' Task Force is a necessary adjunct to the planning and construction process of a major road system.