Route 7 To Expand To Six Lanes

Route 7, Leesburg Pike, will be expanded by one lane in each direction from Tysons Corner to Reston thanks to $10 million in funding from the state of Virginia, Dranesville Supervisor John Foust said Wednesday.

Foust has championed expanding Route 7 from four to six lanes to relieve current congestion and to prepare for even greater traffic as the redevelopment of Tysons Corner gets underway. The $10 million will pay for engineering studies to determine how much the roadway can be widened.

Total daily traffic on Route 7 north of the Dulles Toll Road  is 65,000, according to Fairfax County.

"In my opinion, it is critical that Route 7 be widened from Tysons Corner to Reston Avenue to handle existing and projected traffic to and through Tysons Corner," Foust said in an e-mail message. "When the Tysons Corner Comprehensive Plan was approved, I had that project added to the list of transportation funding priorities in the Plan," he said.

"The county submitted a list of projects that the county asked to be funded. ... At my request, $10 million for preliminary engineering for the Route 7 widening project was included on the county's list," Foust explained.

But when the state announced the projects that would be funded with the newly found money, the Route 7 widening project was not included, Foust said.

State Senator Janet Howell, D-Reston, McLean, was key to getting the funding for the seven-mile expansion, Foust said.

"My understanding is that after Janet Howell was informed that the project was not included on the list she spoke to [Virginia] Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton about the need for the funding, " Foust said. "Yesterday, I heard from Janet that Connaughton confirmed the project would be funded. Until I speak to Janet, I do not know how much funding she was able to get but I heard it will be at least at the amount requested by the county."

Sen. Howell has not yet responded to inquiries from Patch.

There is already a project to add the lanes from Reston Avenue to Rolling Holly Road near the Loudoun border, Foust said.