Regional planning group says Stafford's Courthouse Road improvements can get started.

Date published: 12/8/2005

By KELLY HANNON

A $5.4 million project to improve a stretch of Courthouse Road east of U.S. 1 in Stafford was funded last night, which will allow construction to proceed.

The Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted 8-2 to amend the project's funding source, a necessary step before work could be-gin.

The project will widen the road's travel lanes, add shoulders and straighten out curves. It's part of a multiphase $18.2 million plan to fix Courthouse Road.

The road already has been widened to four lanes from U.S. 1 to Brooke Point High School.

The next, $5.4 million phase would smooth the stretch of Courthouse Road between Brooke Point High and Hamn Lane, just beyond Andrew Chapel Road. It will remain two lanes, but the Virginia Department of Transportation intends to widen them so they meet current standards.

"I feel we have to move forward with this now," said Pete Fields, a FAMPO member and Stafford supervisor.

The project will improve safety, Fields said, but will not divert attention from other transportation needs in Stafford, since there are an "endless series of priorities for transportation in Stafford County." Many congested areas, such as the Falmouth intersection and U.S. 17, are being addressed, too, he said.

The vote was preceded by a well-attended public hearing. Residents living in the vicinity of Courthouse Road spoke in support and opposition of the improvements.

Some welcomed changes that would improve safety, while others said the project will invite more traffic and growth to one of the county's last rural enclaves, including the wildlife-rich Crow's Nest peninsula.

Cecelia Kirkman opposed the plan, saying it could bring more development. She also questioned whether eastern Courthouse Road was "one of the top transportation projects in the Fredericksburg area."

But Stafford Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, who represents the area where the road will be improved, said she's repeatedly heard from constituents about its dangers.

"This is really about having a safe road," Hilliard said.

Spencer Hudson, who lives on Courthouse Road, he assured FAMPO members that it has "bad curves" and has become a "quasi-bypass for Falmouth," carrying an increasing number of cars.

Date published: 12/8/2005