Those traveling on the Fairfax County Parkway during peak travel times must have experienced the back up at the Popes Head Road signal. The traffic backs up on the parkway from either direction so far it’s difficult to even see the traffic light that’s causing the whole thing. However, this is on the radar screen of the Virginia Department of Transportation. There is a meeting planned to look at the solutions their engineers have come up with for this $290 million project.
An artist rendering of the plan at Popes Head Road
According to Burke Connection, "The first public information meeting was held in December 2017, and there was a series of meetings up until early November 2019, and now it’s moved into the “design public hearing” stage, which is a more official point in the road building process. According to VDOT, this section of the Fairfax County Parkway from a point just north of Lee Highway to Ox Road gets about 85,000 vehicles a day and Popes Head Road averages about 4,000 vehicles a day."
As per Burke Connection, "The plans are to widen about five miles of Fairfax County Parkway from four lanes to six through this corridor and redo the Popes Head Road interchange using triple roundabouts that will allow traffic to flow freely via two new bridges over the parkway. At that interchange, there will be access to the future Shirley Gate Road extension and Patriot Park as well.
The project will also include improving the Route 123 interchange, the Fairfax County Parkway/Burke Centre Parkway intersection, and a section of a shared-use path. This is a missing segment on the shared-use path between Burke Centre Parkway to Route 123."
Maryam N. is a Senior Writer at Nesbitt Realty. She is an expert on Fairfax County. Maryam has also worked previously as a geologist. She is a foodie and enjoys cooking and exploring new restaurants.
