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TextUpdate on the Ongoing George Mason Construction
The Mason Inn Project
Recently, I have been meeting with representatives from
Mason, including Mason’s vice president of Facilities, Thomas Calhoun,
concerning development plans for the campus. Part of the new
construction, anticipated to be open in July of 2010, involves a hotel
and conference center called The Mason Inn.
The Mason Inn will have 149 rooms, rising over seven
stories. The plans for the hotel include a 250-person ballroom, a
conference center, a restaurant, a bar and a lounge area. Parking for the
hotel will include 200 total parking spaces, 80 of which will be
underground. The hotel will be built between Braddock Road and University
Drive on Ox Road.
With these projects, several major concerns are
brought to the attention of the county, the school and to the surrounding
community.
The foremost on everyone’s mind is traffic flow for the
surrounding area. Calhoun has noted that he has been in contact with the
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) concerning how increased
trips on and off of campus, created by the construction of these
buildings, will impact congestion.
The Masonvale Project
Dear Neighbor:
As part of Mason’s faculty and staff housing project,
Masonvale, the university is providing many improvements to Roberts Road
to make the area safer for pedestrians as well as vehicles.
Roberts Road will be realigned, and extensive improvements
will be made at the Shenandoah River Lane intersection. The improved
intersection will feature a right-turn lane from Shenandoah onto Roberts
Road, as well as right and left turn lanes on Roberts Road.
Further north on Roberts Road, Mason will create an
entrance to Masonvale with additional turn lanes into the community to
maintain traffic flow, and will build a continuation of the Fairfax
County’s pedestrian trail along Roberts Road.
The narrow road will require a great deal of tree pruning
and removal. The tree removal will begin in late July and last
approximately one month. Project managers assure the community that
traffic will not be affected in any way during that time.
However, the grading and utility work beginning in early
August is likely to cause occasional lane closures. This work will be
done by companies such as Verizon, Washington Gas and Virginia Power,
making it difficult to predict a specific traffic schedule at this
time.
As necessary, flag workers and traffic control devices will
be in place throughout the project. To minimize traffic impact, the
Virginia Department of Transportation allows such construction work only
during the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Roberts Road improvement project is expected to be
complete by early January 2010, with the completion of the Masonvale
project expected in May 2010. If you have questions, please contact
Mason’s Transportation Office at transpo@gmu.edu.
Kindest regards,
Traci Claar
Director, Community Relations
George Mason University
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