County diverts money to improve safety on Lee Chapel Road

Fairfax Times

By Taneika Duhaney

Lee Chapel Road in Fairfax Station was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when two South County High School students were killed. A third was critically injured in a single-vehicle crash on Jan. 10. In the aftermath; community members created a petition. Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Fairfax), the Virginia Department of Transportation, and multiple community leaders hosted a town hall calling for meaningful safety improvement. 

“The Board unanimously approved my motion to direct Fairfax County Department of Transportation to look at eliminating the hills on Lee Chapel Road and potential sources of funding for the project,” tweeted Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity after the accident. 

Last Tuesday, the “Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to transfer $5M from another project (Shirley Gate Road extension) to cover more than half of the estimated $9M of construction cost,” according to 7NewsDC.

The funding would address improvements previously suggested by Herrity in 2015 and again in 2017, but they were shelved due to funding limitations. The approval will remove two hills, widen both lanes and add a shoulder on each side of the road. The project, which will not start until 2026, is expected to take 18 to 36 months if the road is closed to through traffic during the construction period. 

The Board of Supervisors will host a town hall in September to solicit community input.