No matter where you are going, what time of day you are traveling, or the season of the year, traffic and transportation play a role in our region’s ability to connect people to their schools, jobs, and other activities. Almost no other issue unites jurisdictions in their effort to improve our quality of life. As our community grows and changes, surveys indicate that time lost by sitting in traffic affects economic productivity for everyone, not to mention lost time with family and friends.

Envision Route 7 proposes to change that dynamic, and the public has the opportunity to weigh in at three meetings being hosted by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) in November. The meetings are being cosponsored by Fairfax County, and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church. Designed to identify the best transit options for the 14-mile corridor between Tysons Corner and the City of Alexandria, the Envision Route 7 meetings will include ridership and cost projections for three modes of travel – light rail, bus rapid transit, and enhanced bus service. The meetings also will provide additional details about the various alignments under consideration.

Meetings are scheduled on Wednesday, November 4, at the Alexandria Health Department Building, 4480 King Street in Alexandria; Tuesday, November 10, at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, 7130 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church; and Wednesday, November 18, at Glen Forest Elementary School, 5829 Glen Forest Drive in Bailey’s Crossroads. All meetings are scheduled for 7 – 9 p.m.

If you cannot attend one of the scheduled meetings, you still can get involved by visiting www.EnvisionRoute7.com and signing up for email updates, submitting your comments and questions about the study, or requesting a meeting for your organization or community group. You also can find out on the Website how to follow Envision Route 7 on Facebook and Twitter. Constituents often ask me “how can I find out what’s going on, or how can I have input into decisions being made?” If you use public transportation in the corridor, or if you’d like to use public transportation, here’s a great opportunity to affect the future.

Falls Church City’s Memorial Day parade is legendary, but so is Annandale’s annual Fall Parade, which will be held this Saturday. Floats, marching bands, and parade units will step off from the intersection of Gallows Road and Columbia Pike (by the historic Annandale United Methodist little white church) at 10 a.m. Sponsored by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, the year makes the 65th time the parade has been held in downtown Annandale. Columbia Pike and some adjacent streets are closed to traffic for the parade, but in the 1950s, the parade route was in a lane of Little River Turnpike, with traffic maintained in the other lane! Children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes (adults can wear their costumes, too), and I know there will be lots of candy distributed. I look forward to seeing you there.

 Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.