Background
Since the late 1980’s the Tri-County Parkway has been planned as a secondary road much like the Fairfax County Parkway. Its alignment runs from the Prince William County Parkway/Route 234 Bypass west of Manassas near Godwin Drive, north through the northwestern sector of Fairfax County and southeastern Loudoun County to the Loudoun County Parkway, in essence linking the Manassas area in Prince William County to Washington Dulles International Airport and Route 7 in Loudoun County.
This alignment has appeared on the Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Comprehensive Plans since the early 1990s.
The original purpose and need for the Parkway included:
- Linking existing and planned communities in Northern Virginia’s three most populous counties.
- Providing an alternative to and diverting traffic from Route 28 between Manassas and I-66.
- Diverting traffic from Route 234 Business to a more efficient link to I-66.
- Providing an alternative to and reducing cut-through traffic on Braddock, Pleasant Valley and Bull Run Post Office Roads in Fairfax County destined for eastbound I-66.
- Providing a north-south alternative to Route 28 west of Dulles airport.
Click here for a map of the Tri-County Parkway. The Tri-County Parkway Master Plan Alignment is composed of Segments E, F and F1.
Current Status
In November 2005, the Commonwealth Transportation Board selected the Bi-County Parkway over the Tri-County Parkway as the “locally preferred alternative.”
However on, May 18, 2011 the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to create a new Northern Virginia North-South Corridor of Statewide Significance (CoSS) connecting Route 7 in Loudoun County with I-95 and Route 1 in Prince William County. The corridor will consist of a range of multi-modal options, including the long-planned Bi-County and Tri-County Parkways.
By its actions the Commonwealth Transportation Board scored an important victory for responsible, multi-modal planning, improved mobility, economic sustainability and the Washington Dulles International Airport.
Bottom Line
Recent decades have seen state and local governments abandon one transportation option after another. It is no accident Northern Virginia has the nation’s third worst congestion.
The region can’t afford to give up one more.