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By KELLY HANNON
A $5.4 million project to improve a stretch of Courthouse Road east of U.S. 1 in Stafford was funded last night, which will allow construction to proceed.
The Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted 8-2 to amend the project's funding source, a necessary step before work could be-gin.
The project will widen the road's travel lanes, add shoulders and straighten out curves. It's part of a multiphase $18.2 million plan to fix Courthouse Road.
The road already has been widened to four lanes from U.S. 1 to Brooke Point High School.
The next, $5.4 million phase would smooth the stretch of Courthouse Road between Brooke Point High and Hamn Lane, just beyond Andrew Chapel Road. It will remain two lanes, but the Virginia Department of Transportation intends to widen them so they meet current standards.
"I feel we have to move forward with this now," said Pete Fields, a FAMPO member and Stafford supervisor.
The project will improve safety, Fields said, but will not divert attention from other transportation needs in Stafford, since there are an "endless series of priorities for transportation in Stafford County." Many congested areas, such as the Falmouth intersection and U.S. 17, are being addressed, too, he said.
The vote was preceded by a well-attended public hearing. Residents living in the vicinity of Courthouse Road spoke in support and opposition of the improvements.
Some welcomed changes that would improve safety, while others said the project will invite more traffic and growth to one of the county's last rural enclaves, including the wildlife-rich Crow's Nest peninsula.
Cecelia Kirkman opposed the plan, saying it could bring more development. She also questioned whether eastern Courthouse Road was "one of the top transportation projects in the Fredericksburg area."
But Stafford Supervisor Kandy Hilliard, who represents the area where the road will be improved, said she's repeatedly heard from constituents about its dangers.
"This is really about having a safe road," Hilliard said.
Spencer Hudson, who lives on Courthouse Road, he assured FAMPO members that it has "bad curves" and has become a "quasi-bypass for Falmouth," carrying an increasing number of cars.
"I can't imagine anyone in Stafford saying we ought not to make our roads safer," he said.
One speaker, Linda Thomas, asked why more was not being done to improve Courthouse Road west of U.S. 1. Three public schools, including a high school, have entrances on the road, and it is a main thoroughfare for many people living along the road or in adjacent subdivisions.
There are plans to improve Courthouse Road's western half. The project is included in Stafford's Comprehensive Road Improvement Program for fiscal 2007 to 2012. Money is being raised for that project, but there is no construction schedule yet.
Bob Gibbons, another Stafford supervisor and FAMPO member, told the audience the eastern segment is intended to improve safety, not encourage development.
"We're not putting a four-lane super highway down in that area," Gibbons said.
VDOT is prepared to begin construction on the road this coming spring.
Last night's funding change means the improvements will be paid for by the state's Surface Transportation Program fund.
When the project was conceived a decade ago, FAMPO intended to use money from the state Congestion Management and Air Quality Fund. That fund helps localities pay for transportation-related projects that will lessen congestion by getting cars off the road.
With the Virginia Railway Express' Brooke station close to Courthouse Road, VDOT planned to use CMAQ money to encourage new VRE riders.
But federal officials recently ruled that CMAQ money can't pay for the Courthouse Road improvements. The Brooke rail station is overcrowded, and no one needs encouragement to use it.
So last night, FAMPO agreed to return the CMAQ money to the state, and use money from the Surface Transportation Fund instead.
Two FAMPO members voted against the funding change: Bob Hagan, chairman of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, and Randy Wheeler, Spotsylvania County's administrator.
Hagan wanted to table the matter until January, so FAMPO members could have more time to review a memo on the project that was distributed for the first time last night, he said.
Staff writer Edie Gross contributed to this story.
To reach KELLY HANNON:
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com