An 82% increase in estimated costs has led Falls Church officials to rethink plans to improve a key city byway.
As a result, it appears likely that transportation and stormwater improvements along Lincoln Avenue will be phased in over time.
“Costs have greatly accelerated,” City Manager Wyatt Shields told City Council members during a Monday work session.
Some of the increase from a projected $11 million last fall to $20 million today is from general inflation, the cost of workers and the impact of tariffs on supplies, Shields said.
The remainder is owing to more deterioration than anticipated in the sub-base of the road, which runs about 4,000 feet from close to the Arlington border near I-66 westward toward Founders Row.
City planning staff say the money is not available to do the entire renovation project at once, so they have proposed a phased-in approach, starting with:
- Phase A, focused on making the most pressing stormwater-infrastructure improvements along the route at a cost of $4 million
- Phase B, a combination of street and stormwater upgrades from N. West Street east to Greenwich Street at a cost of $5.1 million
Both of those projects are funded and could start construction in 2026, according to city officials. But two other segments — Greenwich Street to Meridian Street and Meridian Street to Yucatan Street at the Arlington border — would be left behind, awaiting future funding.
At the work session, Council members appeared less than thrilled with the situation but resigned to it.
“We’re in a completely different environment. I get all that,” Council member Erin Flynn said.
Shields said that if the phasing plan was accepted by Council members, the roadway from Greenwich Street east to Yucatan Street could receive less-expensive safe-streets improvements from a pool of about $1 million in city money.
“There are opportunities” to do that work next year, he said.
While the formal public-input process for the project closed in the spring, residents along the street continue to provide feedback.
“We are still listening,” Shields said.
Council member David Snyder, who once lived on Lincoln Avenue, said the phased-in approach would offer a chance to hear more from residents.
“It’s very wise that we spend some additional time to understand [their views],” he said.
At the same time, Snyder said, finding alternate funding sources to speed completion might pay long-term financial dividends.
“Costs are going up each and every day,” he said.
Though largely a residential street, Lincoln Avenue is also used as a cut-through by drivers to and from Arlington and connecting to Great Falls Street.
As it crosses eastbound into Arlington, the road’s name changes to Fairfax Drive.
