HAYMARKET, Va. — The potential resurrection of the controversial Bi-County Parkway has some in Prince William County on edge.
“We fought that a couple years ago,” Supervisor Pete Candland said in an interview Tuesday. “… It’s a road that, as presently [planned], does not benefit the people of Prince William County, and that’s why we’re opposed to it. And we would rather see that money put towards projects on expanding 66, addressing the gridlock on Route 28, addressing the gridlock we see on all the other intersections around here.”
Last year, the county removed the road west of Manassas National Battlefield from long-range plans, but the route between the area near Jiffy Lube Live and the west side of Dulles Airport re-emerged in a recent regional long-term plan, apparently at the urging of Loudoun County leaders. The presence in that regional long-range plan means the road would be eligible for further studies.
“I’m here to state clearly: Apply the money elsewhere, because a majority of the citizens of Prince William County don’t want the Bi-County Parkway,” Candland told several Northern Virginia VDOT officials at a ceremonial ribbon cutting Tuesday for a separate project — the new interchange unique to the region at Interstate 66 and U.S. 15 in Gainesville.
“This is just the first step of many projects that need to be addressed in our area. While we try to relieve gridlock here, this needs to be replicated all over Prince William County. From Route 15 to Business 234 and I-66 to Route 28 to Route 1 and I-95, there is so much more that needs to be done,” Candland said.
In his view, that new interchange could be clogged up again if the Bi-County Parkway gets built, since thousands of commuters could shift from Route 234 at Route 29.
“Most of our issues are east-west, not north-south,” Candland said.
County leaders largely support a different road that could run on the east side of the battlefield — the Tri-County Parkway around the city of Manassas, which could provide an alternative for some drivers to Route 28 and Route 234 Business.
With the end of construction work at Interstate 66 and U.S. 15 two years after construction was completed a short distance away on the interchange with Route 29 and Linton Hall Road, Candland lightheartedly said, he would “see orange cones in my dreams and nightmares, I think, for the rest of my life.”
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