Falls Church officials next week are expected to authorize requests for regional funds in support of two key transportation upgrades.
The proposals for Haycock Road and Annandale Road were discussed at the July 7 City Council work session, with formal action slated for Monday, July 14.
Haycock Road bicycle path funding requested
Future multimodal bicyclist improvements along Haycock Road near the Fairfax-Falls Church border may be dependent on obtaining regional grant funding.
City Council members on July 14 are expected to formally request up to $15 million from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) in support of the upgrade, which is jointly sought with Fairfax County officials.
The grant application is in anticipation of NVTA decisions in 2026 for the next round of funding. If funded, the project potentially could be undertaken in 2026-27.
The proposal calls for a 10-foot-wide bicycle path on the east side of Haycock running from Route 7 (W. Broad Street) to Falls Church Drive near the West Falls Church Metro station. It has won informal support from the city’s Planning Commission.
The separated path would provide access from Route 7 to the Metro station and to the Meridian High School/Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School campus.
Work would be coordinated with the Virginia Department of Transportation. No travel lanes would need to be removed to accommodate the separated pathway, and existing sidewalks would remain.
The Fairfax County government provided initial concept designs for the improvements, but has no funding available to move forward with the project. Falls Church officials estimate $400,000 is needed to complete the design phase.
Fairfax officials have indicated to their Falls Church counterparts that, if funding is made available, the county could continue management of the project.
City officials are amenable to that idea. “We would envision we would keep the partnership with Fairfax,” city manager Wyatt Shields said at the July 7 work session.
The proposal is one of a number of new transportation elements planned for the area of the Metro station, some conducted as part of redevelopment efforts in the corridor.
Directly south of Route 7 from the proposed project, design work already is underway on a shared-use path on the east side of Shreve Road.
NVTA funding of $6.9 million has been approved for the Shreve Road project, which will run from Route 7 south to the W&OD Regional Trail in Fairfax County.
Funds sought for Annandale Road intersections
City Council members on Tuesday, July 14 also are expected to authorize City Manager Wyatt Shields to seek up to $20 million in NVTA funding for the Annandale Road multimodal project.
The proposal calls for improvements at Annandale Road’s intersections with Hillwood Avenue and S. Washington Street.
Sidewalk widening, bicycle improvements, updated intersection geometry, new crosswalks, ADA ramps and signal improvements are part of the package, as is utility undergrounding.
If NVTA funding is approved, design for the project could begin in 2029-30, city officials said.
Because the Haycock Road project would benefit students, city officials plan to prioritize that request over the Annandale Road project in its NVTA submissions.
“That makes sense to me,” City Council member Laura Downs said at the July 7 work session.
Prioritizing the Haycock Road effort does not mean city officials will downplay the need for upgrades on Annandale Road, Shields said.
“We’re going to fight for both of them,” he said.
Mayor Letty Hardi said she was hopeful alternative funding sources could be found to get the Annandale Road project completed sooner than current timetables.
“I don’t like having to wait,” Hardi said.
Council member David Snyder, who represents Falls Church on, and chairs, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, said he would look into options for NVTC funding for the project.
As with the Haycock Road project, the NVTA grant-application deadline is Aug. 1. If approved, local financial matches for the funding would be required.
