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City considers Fall Hill Avenue widening project

Public hearing on Fall Hill Avenue widening in Fredericksburg

Date published: 11/13/2007

By KELLY HANNON

Widening Fall Hill Avenue and its Interstate 95 bridge could become a priority road project in Fredericksburg.

City Council will hold a public hearing at 7:30 tonight on the project in council chambers.

Fall Hill Avenue would be widened to four lanes between Carl D. Silver Parkway at Central Park and the Rappahannock Canal bridge near the Virginia Outdoor Center.

The I-95 overpass would expand to four lanes. Bike paths and pedestrian walkways would be added.

Also, Mary Washington Boulevard would connect with Fall Hill Avenue near the Rappahannock Canal. Mary Washington Boulevard currently ends near Mary Washington Hospital.

The Fall Hill project is expected to cost $21 to $32 million, with the city expected to pay about 2 percent of the total.

The current two-lane Fall Hill Avenue bridge does not have sidewalks. Cyclists and pedestrians mix with traffic on the busy I-95 overpass.

Fall Hill Avenue connects U.S. 1 near James Monroe High School with Central Park, Celebrate Virginia and State Route 3 west.

The public hearing centers on whether the city of Fredericksburg should make the Fall Hill Avenue improvements a priority project.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has asked the city to pick a priority project by Dec. 1, so it can start setting aside money for the work. VDOT predicts $300,000 may be available in fiscal 2009.

The city can pick a new priority now that Cowan Boulevard's extension from U.S. 1 to Central Park is finished.

The Fall Hill project will be on the council's Nov. 27 meeting agenda for action.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com


WHO: Fredericksburg City Council

WHAT: Hearing on city road improvement priorities.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. tonight.

WHERE: Council chambers at City Hall, 715 Princess Anne St. Access to the meeting is off Hanover Street.



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Date published: 11/13/2007


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Honestly (posted by , Nov. 15, 2007 7:05 am)   
who didn't see this coming? So they'll widen the road to CDS Pkway. THEN they'll have to widen the road that extends to Rt3 (Is that Bragg Hill?) Because everything bottle necks at that traffic light - especially near Giant. All those nice house along that road will have to go and they'll build hmmm? Townhouses? Or maybe more shopping? It never ends.

Woo Hoo!!!! (posted by TPKeller , Nov. 14, 2007 10:23 am)   
Wow, I am pumped! *I* USE the new Cowan Boulevard on a fairly regular basis! I'M MOVIN' ON UP!!! Who knew all it would take for me to make "ELITE" status was to simply start using a convenient new road to get to my grocery store! AMERICA IS A GREAT LAND OF OPPORTUNITY!!! Wow. I gotta call home and tell my mom!

Geez (posted by patrick4hp , Nov. 14, 2007 12:59 am)   
It's so perplexing to see so many people don't know that the gasoline tax will fund most of this expansion. Just goes to show...and it's a great idea too.

waste of money (posted by arealocal , Nov. 13, 2007 3:44 pm)   
Why should we make such an expansion of Fall Hill when all that we need is a pedestrian bridge/bike path for the overpass??

What are the alternatives (posted by thatguyb , Nov. 13, 2007 2:43 pm)   
VDOT is asking for a priority project. It would be helpful to know what other projects are going to be considered other than Fall Hill. I would like to see traffice re-routed off of Caroline so that we could get some bike lanes or a pedestrian mall downtown. This would fit with the cities desire to bring in more businesses than just Central Park.

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