Supervisors want direct route to Dulles International Airport

Providing "direct and unimpeded access" to Dulles International Airport has taken on new economic priority for some Prince William supervisors, and the chairman has said he will bring the issue to the board for a more in-depth look in the coming weeks.

"Prince William has it all right now," said Corey Stewart, R-At-large. "We have 66, I-95. The one thing we don't have is direct and unimpeded access to Dulles … and if we can tie ourselves directly to [Dulles], the business that would locate along that corridor would be immense … Prince William County would be completely unstoppable."

Stewart said he was going to bring a directive to the board at the next meeting in November that would serve as a formal next step in the county's pursuit of a Dulles route. The term "direct and unimpeded access" takes many forms, however, and choosing which option is best -- both financially and politically -- is a challenge.

One plan involves Va. 28; another, Va. 234; and the third, roughly 10 miles through the three counties of Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William. And Fairfax said no to the Tri-County plan on at least one occasion, Stewart said.

"Back when Gerry Connolly was chairman of the board, Fairfax nixed it," he said, adding that the Tri-County route would have touched only a small portion of Fairfax County.

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Tri-County corridor would connect Manassas with I-66 and the Loudoun County Parkway. Specifically, VDOT states, it would run "north from Virginia 234 (Sudley Road) in the city of Manassas through Fairfax County to U.S. 50 (John Mosby Highway) in Loudoun County, where it could tie in with the Loudoun County Parkway."

The Va. 234 plan, meanwhile, calls for road work through portions of the county's rural crescent, an unpopular plan for those county residents -- and there are plenty -- who want to keep this parcel of land off limits to more development.

"My preferred route would be the [development of the] Tri-County Parkway," Stewart said, adding that the 234 plan, if considered at all, should include limited access restrictions to protect the rural crescent from further development.

The costs for all three plans are varied but sizeable, especially when considered at a time when road improvement projects have been pushed to the side in both state and local budgets to make room for core government services. But both Va. 234 and Tri-County plans call for toll roads with the initial cash outlays provided by public-private partnerships, Stewart said.

On top of that, the campaigning Robert F. McDonnell, Republican candidate for governor, has promised to help the county with funding issues for the access route, Stewart said. Should Democrat Creigh Deeds win instead, that funding potential is nil, he contended.

"I've got a very good relationship with McDonnell," Stewart said, "and he has vowed to work with us when he wins."

Supervisor Mike May, R-Occoquan, said he was open to discussing most any plan to boost economic development, but could not give an informed opinion on any proposal that had yet to be put to print.

"I think everyone on the board is supportive of economic development," May said. "But at the same time, you've got to have a balance between economic development and the protection of the health, welfare and safety of the citizens of Prince William County."

Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, meanwhile, said he was familiar with most of the plans to link the county with Dulles, having served for more than a year on a committee tasked with providing the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors with various transportation alternatives, the Mobility Committee. Some of those ideas, he said, are now making their way onto the radar screen of Stewart and the board.

For instance, Principi said, his committee suggested the county create a new task force to study ways to boost economic development -- and that, in fact, is another idea Stewart said he may bring to the board by way of directive in the coming weeks.

"I promoted this in the last budget discussion," Principi said. "I'm glad to see the chairman is warming up to the idea."

Principi, while agreeing in principle on the need for a direct and unimpeded route between the county and Dulles, also said that access could come in different forms, some of which wouldn't involve new construction.

"On surface," Principi said, "the idea makes a world of sense. But when you talk about access, you can talk about transportation, roads or rails that go from Prince William to the airport. Another type of access is … to have international businesses locate in an enterprise free zone in the county, and that would help with the access to move freight through Dulles."

Principi diverged with Stewart on one key point: the governor's race.

"I see it just the opposite," he said, in reference to which candidate would better serve Prince William's access and roads needs. "McDonnell's plan to fund transportation comes from two sources, the general fund, which simply robs Peter [education] to pay Paul [transportation]. And the second is by selling ABC alcohol rights to the private sector. That is one-time money. Once we sell it, that's it."

Deeds, on the other hand, wants to appoint a non-partisan commission to study and make transportation-related ideas, and to increase the fuel tax as a recurring and dedicated source of road funding, Principi said.

"We have not raised the fuel tax since the 1970s and we have a whole lot of people who travel through Northern Virginia who could pay," he said. "An increase in the fuel tax would seem a better idea to me."

Admittedly, Principi said, the politics of raising taxes during this poor economy might prove hair-raising.

"But if we're going to be able to solve our transportation gridlock," he said, "I think everything has to be on the table. We have to have the political will."

Direct and unimpeded access from Prince William to Dulles is part of the county Comprehensive Plan and the Commonwealth Transportation Board long-range plan, Stewart said.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.