The road: George Mason Blvd

Tonight the council tackled one of the most vexing problems facing the City of Fairfax: George Mason Blvd. Ok, maybe it's not that serious, but this is a road that has a life of its own. On the drawing board for more than 15 years, the road opened without fanfare in June.

There is so much history to this project that it could fill hours of a public hearing. The short version is this: The road was conceived of back when the Crestmont neighborhood didn't exist, Mason hadn't blasted off yet on its growth trajectory and there was lots of cut through traffic through the Green Acres neighborhood (full disclosure: I live there).

Well, that's about all people agree on. After that, the road took on a life of its own. Needless to say there was a combustible mix of federal, state and local dollars involved. Lots of commitments made.

Anyhow, the road is open and we have to make the best of difficult situation. And in working on this issue, the Council worked very hard to try and satisfy the desires of most in the community, finding compromise where we could. So this is what was decided:

1. The City will support/fund about $82,000 in landscaping and fencing along the road in the Crestmont neighborhood. Given that the road cuts right through this relatively new neighborhood this is a fair agreement, especially since one could argue that a promise was made at some point by somebody that sound walls would be built.

2. Setting the foundation for a mini/pocket park at the terminus of University Drive and George Mason University. Given our budget situation, we will spend $10,000 to dig up the vacated road, seed it, extend curb and gutter and sidewalks and start planning for a real park.

3. Keeping School Street closed with the extension of curb and gutten along University Drive. Also moving the barricade around and elevating it so people will see it better coming down School Street.

And some may wonder why we aren't/can't do more. The reason is this: VDOT. Even though we have $511,000 left over from the road project, we must follow a set of rules (that I don't get) stating that we can only use a certain percentage on landscaping and additional safety measures.

Anyhow, that's where we are. There's more to this story and I'm happy to chat, but this is the short-version. And the reality is that we are fortunate to move forward on these efforts. At the end of the day, our City will be better for these projects.