Planning staff in collaboration with County Transportation professionals have reviewed and proposed updates to the Transportation Element (Chapter 3) of the Comprehensive Plan. The draft amendments are attached in redline markup format to clearly identify where amendments have been proposed.  Corresponding new draft maps have also been attached. Due to the Chapter’s specialized focus, County Transportation staff will be present during the meeting should technical or operational questions arise. The draft Transportation Element was presented to the Transportation Committee on June 12, 2019.

The Transportation Plan has been reviewed and updated considerate of the Code of Virginia, Section 15.2-2223 (attached for reference) that requires a Transportation Plan be developed as an element of the Comprehensive Plan and address a number of transportation related systems including but not limited to roadways, bicycle and pedestrian accommodation, rail, airports, public transportation, etc. The Transportation Plan must also consider Transportation related information such as the acknowledgement of corridors of statewide significance as outlined in Sect. 15.2-2232 (attached for reference).

The 2013 Transportation Plan had a planning horizon of 2030 and recommended transportation system improvements considering existing conditions and future projected population and traffic impact mitigations necessary by 2030. This update now looks to 2040. County Transportation staff are presently in the process of updating the draft Thoroughfare Plan project list to reflect expected 2040 traffic volumes. Since the last Comprehensive Plan update there have been a number of new roads identified within the Thoroughfare Plan worthy of consideration. The Thoroughfare Plan Project list and associated map include: Chancellor Road Extension to Route 3; Spotsylvania Pkwy/ Smith Station Extension to Gordon Road; Harrison Road Interchange; Route 606 Service Roads North and South; Market Street Extension; Houser Drive Extension. The Thoroughfare Plan itself has been reformatted to break projects into categories including: New Roads and Extensions; Interstate Projects; Road Widening and other Existing Road Corridor Improvements; Intersection Improvements.

Now that we are in 2019, the draft document has been updated to reflect changes in Transportation that have occurred since 2013. This includes removal of now outdated information with more recent information. As part of the staff review of the Transportation Element considering the Code of Virginia, the draft further expands upon and elaborates on the status of rail and air services in the County. These are

valuable transportation alternatives to consider. Staff feels prior iterations of the Comprehensive Plan were “light” on those alternatives. With an enhanced focus on Economic Development intended with this Comprehensive Plan update, greater emphasis has been placed on the current state of rail and air and potential opportunities to consider that give insight into development of the Future Land Use Map Economic Development goals. Summaries related to Transportation Alternatives as a whole have been enhanced with this draft to include “real world” reporting on the status of such Alternatives available in the County. Staff also see’s value in expanding access to more detailed subject specific information within this iteration of the Comprehensive Plan. A number of new hyperlinks have been proposed to expand the reach and ease of access to information associated with the Transportation Plan.  Transportation Plan Goals and Objectives have been generally maintained as part of this update however a number of strategies have been proposed that are aimed at safety, system flow, economic development prospects (considerations related to rail access especially), and identification of priority transportation projects based on scoring to strategically focus efforts to improve the transportation network in the County.

As part of the Comprehensive Plan update process staff has also proposed adding a revised and updated Trailways Master Plan (now in draft) as a Transportation Element sub-Chapter (Chapter 3A). The concept of relocating the 2011 Trailways Master Plan from a standalone plan format to one embedded within the Comprehensive Plan was supported by the Planning Commission when presented as a concept at a prior work session on November 7, 2018 (minutes attached for reference). Planning for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are also consistent with Transportation Plan requirements as outlined in the Code of Virginia (Section referenced above). The Trailways Master Plan serves dual purposes within the Comprehensive Plan by addressing both road and/or road corridor based improvements (as a Transportation Alternative), as well as identifying greenway systems intended for the purpose of addressing Parks and Recreation Level of Service as established in the draft Parks and Recreation portion of the Public Facilities Element, endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Commission on April 18, 2019. The Trailways Master Plan generally mirrors the network adopted in 2011 but has been updated to reflect road improvement plans associated with an updated Thoroughfare Plan and changes to Greenway routes with the aim of tying more greenway miles to existing planned roadway improvement projects, resulting in less perceived duplication, less intrusive potential property impacts, greater visibility, and exposure to potential commercial spin-off opportunities. Since 2011 a number of conceptual greenway alignments have been able to be more clearly established resulting from development opportunities, road improvement plans, various design and alignment studies. As part of this update, the draft provides status updates for a number of the planned trailways to highlight various implementation successes since initial Plan adoption. The content of the Plan is meant to “get to the point” and has been streamlined to include a Plan background, descriptions of the scope of the plan, descriptions of the specific greenways and intended user groups, and a map depiction of the network. Road based improvements are linked to the County Thoroughfare Plan improvements and the George Washington Region Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodations help project scoring when Transportation funds are applied for. The Draft Chapter 3A and the associated Trailways Master Plan map have been attached.