Excerpt from the Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity Report Summer 2008 Part 1, http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/springfield/pdf_files/herrity_report/summer_2008_1.pdf.

As I promised many residents along Rolling Road, I did take another look at the project to determine if it was really needed. Based on a number of factors – VDOT traffic projections, comments from residents, and the three year crash statistics – 114 crashes and three fatalities – I determined the project to widen Rolling Road is necessary. However, I also promised to do all I could to minimize the impact to the citizens that either live on or have to get on Rolling Road on a regular basis.

Working with VDOT and some community leaders early in the process we were able to get some changes in the plans before they even went to public hearing. Some of these changes include decreasing the width of the multi-purpose trail proposed for the west side from 10 feet to 8 feet, reducing the design speed from 45 to 40 (with a posted speed of 35 mph), and eliminating the striped on lane bicycle paths and using wide shoulder lanes.

As far as design goes, this project is not a “done deal.” I am still working with residents and VDOT staff to resolve some outstanding issues as well as pushing for some design revisions. These design revisions are primarily access related and attempts to further narrow the prodjects width and therefore the impact on the homeowners. The outstanding issues involve:

• Access to the Sunoco Station – we are working to insure access to the Sunnoco and the shopping center without having to return to the Old Keene mill intersection to go south on Rolling.
• Obtaining a general consensus (on a block by block basis) whether the residents want on-street parking
• Specific design changes I am pushing for include underground utilities, a 5-foot sidewalk on the western side (instead of the 8-foot multi-use trail), decreased median widths where feasible, reducing the width of the on street parking, and a signal in the southern part of the project (possibly Viola).

My goal is to get the best Rolling Road widening project we can, which to me means affecting people’s front yards as little as possible while still handling the traffic in a safe and efficient manner.