In The Area

Compiled from press releases and The Fairfax County Times.

Meeting Scheduled over Partial University Drive Closure

The Fairfax City Council plans to provide information to the public about the pending closure of southern University Drive at a community dialogue meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. May 5 in the City Hall Annex.

On May 18, the city will close University Drive at Armstrong Street and at the city line near George Mason University. Southbound traffic will be rerouted to Route 123/Chain Bridge Road. Drivers will be directed along the new path with signs and variable message boards, according to a city press release.

George Mason Boulevard is expected to open by late June, connecting the city to Mason from University Drive at Armstrong Street. Drivers who wish to travel south on Route 123 will be able to do so via westbound Armstrong Street (in front of City Hall).

Transportation is Area Residents’ No. 1 Concern, According to Survey

A survey released Saturday indicates a vast majority of area respondents identify transportation as the first or second most important long-term challenge facing the metropolitan Washington region.

The survey was conducted with more than 1,000 area residents for the Greater Washington Coalition 2050. Transportation issues were identified by 54 percent of those surveyed—greater than that of the second and third answers combined.
Concerns regarding the economy or jobs followed transportation at 29 percent, and education/schools ranked third at 23 percent.

Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and District of Columbia residents took part in the survey. Sixty-eight percent of Northern Virginia residents ranked transportation as their No. 1 concern, as opposed to only 26 percent of residents within the District.

Fairfax Receives ‘F’ for Air Quality

Northern Virginia’s air quality remains among the worst in the nation, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.

The association’s State of the Air report gave Fairfax County failing grades for its levels of ozone and particulate matter in the air, and additionally, ranked Fairfax as No. 23 on the report's list of the worst 25 counties for ozone levels.

Neighboring Arlington and Loudoun counties, also received an ‘F’ for ozone but passed with a ‘C’ for particle pollution. The Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area as a whole ranks 14th highest in the country for ozone and particle pollution, according to the lung association's rankings of major cities.

According to David DiBiasi, director of advocacy and public education for the American Lung Association in Virginia, Fairfax does more monitoring than some of its neighboring jurisdictions, which may have contributed to its ranking.