This section of Lee Chapel is a highly used cut through at rush hour, in the morning and evening. Ideally, you would make the road two lanes in each direction for the entire section. However, making the northbound side two lanes and keeping the southbound lane as one lane would help alleviate the backups. Remember, you have to plan for the
future growth.

In regards to the detour, traffic is going to use Silverbrook Road and Hooes Roadroad either way. Unfortunately, it already takes 15 minutes to get from the Fairfax County Parkway to Silverbrook Road via Hooes Road in the evening because of the lights at Newington Forest and Silverbrook Road, and that's barely over a mile. Therefore, I hope you solve that problem first.

In order to take into consideration any traffic growth that might happen, we took into consideration the growth rate that was developed with VDOT based on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) regional travel model. This model considers factors such as population growth, land use changes, and planned transportation improvements throughout the region. The project also includes signal timing improvements in coordination with VDOT to help move the traffic as efficiently as possible through the corridor during construction when Lee Chapel Road is closed.

The current scope of the project is to address the inherent safety issues of the existing substandard roadway geometry without widening the roadway. Widening the roadway to 4 lanes, with 2 lanes in each direction is beyond the scope of this project.

The project includes signal timing improvements in coordination with VDOT to help move the traffic as efficiently as possible through the corridor during construction when Lee Chapel Road is closed. While, FCDOT recognizes the temporary inconvenience during its construction, it provides a safer roadway once construction is complete.

We will coordinate with schools as the design process moves forward.

In order to establish existing traffic conditions, traffic count data was collected at study area intersections in Spring 2024 when school was in session. Data was obtained for both AM and PM weekday time periods as well as a weekend Mid-day time period. Weekday AM and PM counts occurred on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The weekend midday count occurred on Saturday, March 16, 2024. In order to take into consideration any future traffic growth, we took into consideration the growth rate that was developed with VDOT based on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) regional travel model. This model considers factors such as population growth, land use changes, and planned transportation improvements throughout the region.

The project is being designed to improve safety because the existing roadway geometry does not meet current VDOT safety standards and has been associated with numerous vehicular crashes. This improvement will make the roadway safer for all roadway users including those who may inadvertently make mistakes or face unforeseen conditions.

We have proposed two detour options, one is Silverbrook Road and Hooes Road, and another is Burke Lake Road. The project also includes signal timing improvements in coordination with VDOT to help move the traffic as efficiently as possible through the corridor during construction when Lee Chapel Road is closed. Based on the traffic condition and origin and destination either detour route can be used.