Two options on table for safety improvements to deadly Lee Chapel Road

The public has a few more weeks to weigh in on two construction scenarios as Fairfax County officials work to improve safety on a deadly stretch of Lee Chapel Road.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation proposed two options at a virtual community meeting on Dec. 10 for approaching a project that will level the narrow, two-lane roadway between Ox Road (Route 123) and the Fairfax County Parkway:

• Completely shut down the stretch during construction, except for residents, public safety, school, delivery and trash vehicles; or
• Create an interim, one-lane asphalt road with two temporary traffic lights to accommodate through traffic.

“There are going to be tradeoffs,” Fairfax County  Transportation Design Division Chief W. Todd Minnix said at the two-hour online forum, which drew more than 80 participants.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agreed in mid-2023 to redirect some funding from a planned Shirley Gate Road extension to a new project that would address the roadway’s rolling nature in the wake multiple serious crashes, including one in January 2023 that killed two 16-year-old girls.

Investigators believe the vehicle was going in excess of 100 mph and went airborne before the crash, which also injured a third teen.

Since then, county officials have been working with the Virginia Department of Transportation, or VDOT, on a plan to make the dips in the roadway less pronounced. The effort aims to reduce the differential between the stretch’s high and low points by a total of 12 feet.

County officials have found the $9 million they believe the project will cost but are still determining how to proceed. Fairfax County's transportation department will be accepting feedback through Jan. 10.

“We’ve got some very important decisions to make,” Springfield District Supervisor Supervisor Pat Herrity said at the virtual meeting. “Input is important.”

Herrity was joined by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck, who said the dangers of the road, which dates back to the 1800s, are well-known, but the 2023 crash galvanized support for change.

“We’ve worked hard to overcome the tragedy that really has devastated us all,” Storck said.

Lee Chapel Road improvement project location (via Fairfax County)

The affected stretch of Lee Chapel Road carries an average of 15,600 vehicles on weekdays, when it serves as a prime cut-through for those traveling between major thoroughfares nearby.

Regardless of whether the roadway is shut down completely or partially during construction efforts, county officials anticipate spillover traffic for the duration of the construction on Hooes Road, Silverbrook Road, Ox Road, Burke Lake Road and Fairfax County Parkway.

Minnix estimated a total construction time of six to eight months if the roadway is completely shut down, or eight to 10 months if a temporary road is constructed.

Those time frames could more than double if construction engineers determine retaining walls are needed, but at the moment, they’re being considered “optional,” Minnix said.

Several community members participating in the meeting questioned the need for such major alterations, suggesting alternate ways of addressing safety.

“I don’t think this is a project Fairfax County should be investing very limited dollars on,” South Run resident Liz Gauthier said. “Changing the topography and inconveniencing the residents … it’s really not necessary.”

She suggested lowering the speed limit and installing speed cameras to create a safer culture on the road.

But Ralph Randall argued that wouldn’t be enough, describing the current situation for drivers as akin to a roller-coaster ride.

Reducing the height of the hill “is going to improve things tremendously,” Randall said.

Woodlands in South Run Park are located on one side of the affected roadway, with three private residences on the other. Those homeowners came to the meeting armed with questions about how their properties, including wells, would be treated during any construction.

“If we impact it, we would have to pay for it,” Minnix said in response to their concerns.

Currently, the roadway is approximately 22 feet wide, with virtually no shoulders. Any reconstruction would create two 11-foot travel lanes with eight-foot shoulders on each side. Six of those eight feet in the shoulder area would be paved.

Because the South Run Park property was purchased years ago using federal dollars, any use of the park’s land to widen the roadway would require National Park Service approval and a promise by county leaders to provide parkland elsewhere as compensation.

As currently envisioned, the project will focus primarily on the vertical aspects of the roadway. There would be only limited changes to the horizontal challenges, including an S-curve in that stretch.

Depending on which construction option is selected, anywhere from 547 to 720 trees could be placed in peril, county officials said. Completely closing the section of roadway except for local access would result in fewer tree removals.

Top image via Pat Herrity/Twitter