Traffic Projections Concern FAMPO Policy Committee
Committee requesting a meeting with state transportation secretary to discuss.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Travel times in the Fredericksburg region, which can already be lengthy, are expected to double by 2050, according to recent projections completed by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The Policy Committee of the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization finds these projections so concerning that it is requesting a meeting with the state secretary of transportation.
The committee, which is made up of elected officials from Fredericksburg City and the counties of Stafford and Spotsylvania, on Monday approved a letter to be sent from Chair Lori Hayes to W. Sheppard Miller, the transportation secretary.
The letter states that if all projects in FAMPO’s long-range plan, which are “fiscally constrained”—meaning they can be implemented using committed or available revenue sources—are built, “travel time will still double across the region” (emphasis not added).
A map attached to the letter shows that Interstate 95 through the entire Fredericksburg area, from Stafford through Caroline, will be either “highly” or “extremely congested” by 2050.
State routes 208 and 3 in Spotsylvania and U.S. 17 and 1 in Stafford will also be highly or extremely congested.
“Depicted in the attached map, this model illustrates the need to address this significant congestion problem before it adversely impacts the economic growth and vitality of the entire Commonwealth,” the letter states. “The FAMPO Policy Committee respectfully requests a meeting with you to discuss this important issue, the challenges ahead, and the types of solutions we can develop to keep the region moving.”
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
