VDOT to reveal latest design for Dahlgren Road/Owens intersection next week
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- Published on Wednesday, 21 November 2012 12:12
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Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) latest design plan for widening sections of Dahlgren Road (Route 206) at the Owens intersection with Windsor Drive (Route 218) and Owens Road (Route 624) is expected to be on display at next week’s work session meeting of the King George Board of Supervisors.
At least a couple of supervisors have seen recent versions of the changing design. Those include At-Large Supervisor Dale Sisson and Dahlgren Supervisor Ruby Brabo.
Sisson said at a board meeting on Oct. 16 that he had been shown a recent iteration by VDOT’s Fredericksburg District Administrator Quintin Elliott. He stated, “I’ve seen the redesign they have done and there are significant changes.”
Elliott also showed a recent version to Dahlgren Supervisor Ruby Brabo at a private meeting on Nov. 5, along with David Brown, Northern Neck Residency Administrator.
Shiloh Supervisor and Chairman Cedell Brooks said on Nov. 6 that he passed up Brabo’s meeting with Elliot. Brooks said he was instead waiting for next week’s board meeting with VDOT, adding, “Mr. Elliott shared with me that there was nothing complete yet and he only had incomplete plans, and they would be ready on Nov. 26.”
He also stated about the intersection, “This board has always been concerned about the safety there.” He added, “Let’s give VDOT a chance and then if they don’t, then we’ll jump up and down.”
James Madison Supervisor Joe Grzeika and James Monroe Supervisor John LoBuglio have not stated whether they’ve seen recent drawings for the proposed changes.
COSTS SO FAR?
At a previous work session meeting with VDOT on July 10, Michelle Shropshire, Fredericksburg District’s assistant district administrator for preliminary engineering, told Supervisors that if the project were to be stopped, VDOT would have to repay the federal government the $463,000 already spent at that time.
Recent legislation by the state’s General Assembly soon initiated talk of whether the county would have to actually pay for VDOT’s outlay, if the board was able to stop the project.
But the new law has not been tested and it remains unclear whether it would affect a project that has been in the works for as long as this one.
MEETING NEXT MONDAY
As with all board meetings, next week’s work session meeting is open to the public. The meeting of the Board of Supervisors with VDOT officials takes place at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, in the board room of the Revercomb administration building. Members of the public are welcome to sit in on the meeting, view documents presented by VDOT and hear what county and state officials have to say.
There is not expected to be public comment, since it does not appear on the agenda for work sessions. Public comment time is always available at regular business meetings. (See related article elsewhere in this issue on the stances taken by board members on the proposal.)
—Phyllis Cook
