McLean Citizens Group Backs Federal Funding Ask for GW Parkway

The McLean Citizens Association (MCA) is supporting a recent request for federal funding for work on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

MCA sent a letter on Feb. 17 to the Department of Transportation, urging support for the National Park Service’s grant applications.

The funding from the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant program would help rehabilitate 8 miles of the parkway from Spout Run Parkway to I-495.

NPS is looking to:

• repave the road
• repair stormwater management systems and walls
• rehabilitate two historic, scenic overlooks
• replace guardrails
• construct new curbs
• build emergency turnarounds along the north end

“The condition of this stretch of the GW Parkway has been deteriorating, and urgent action is needed to perform reconstruction of this portion of the road system,” the letter notes.

More than 33 million vehicles per year travel on the GW Parkway, according to Fairfax County. Last year, emergency work had to fix the cause of a sizable sinkhole on the GW Parkway, disrupting traffic for months in the area.

Noting that the grant program is “highly competitive,” the letter goes on to say that the work will also improve the “historical and cultural characteristics that make the Parkway one of the most scenic roadways in the country.”

Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors is also backing the federal funding ask.

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