Mason road decals to be added to major Fairfax intersections, university entrances

Five road decals will be added to major intersections throughout the city. This one is at the intersection of Route 123 and Main Street, in front of The Auld Shebeen (photo courtesy of Cathy Wolfe).

As students return to George Mason University for the fall semester, they may see a difference driving through Old Town Fairfax.  

By August 9, five Mason logos will be painted at major intersections throughout the city as drivers approach the university. The green and gold road decals read “We Are Mason,” and were planned in collaboration between Mason and the City of Fairfax.

“Doing something like this has been in the works for a number of years,” said Jeff Greenfield, a member of the Fairfax City Council and Mason alumni. “We’re the home of George Mason University.”

Greenfield first approached the university about adding the decals, and Mason officials were supportive of the idea.

Five decals will be added throughout the City of Fairfax, with more planned for the future (photo courtesy of George Mason University Office of Campus Planning).

“With a very supportive mayor in office, [Greenfield] was really able to make it happen,” said Traci Claar, director of Community and Local Government Relations at Mason.

According to Claar, the relationship between the university and the city has gone through several phases over the years, but that this project represents a change.

“I think that there is a more permanent change taking place in terms of the relationship,” Claar said. “The reason Jeff Greenfield chose this particular [design] is because it encompassed both the city and the university.”

According to Greenfield, there hasn’t been any opposition to the project, either from other members on the city council or residents in the community.

“I feel like you don’t always know that George Mason is right there,” Greenfield said. “I want students, when they are coming to school, to know that they’re within a couple of miles from campus when they start passing over these decals. We’re glad to have them here.”

The university will also be painting the same design at each of the entrances to the university. Greenfield hopes to place more decals throughout the city as financing becomes available.

“I think this is one more step in furthering the relationship the university and the city,” Greenfield said.  

Five decals of the same design are being added to each entrance of the university (photo courtesy of George Mason University Office of Campus Planning).