When the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, by a vote of 8 to 1, approved my motion to adopt the Seven Corners Comprehensive Plan Amendment this summer, a series of follow-on motions regarding transportation improvements in Seven Corners also was adopted. At the July 28 meeting, the Board requested development of milestones for the associated transportation studies, to be submitted to the Board at its September 22 meeting.

Follow-on Motion 4 directed staff to conduct a phasing analysis and develop a funding plan for the transportation improvements recommended in the Seven Corners Comprehensive Plan that would include cost estimates for road and other transportation improvements, recommendations about the projected order of such improvements to maintain a balance between the future redevelopment of Seven Corners and the associated transportation infrastructure over time, conceptual plans for phased implementation, and descriptions of funding sources and estimates of funds available from each source. Accordingly, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation advised the Board, at its meeting on Tuesday, that two studies are anticipated: 1) a Seven Corners Transportation Phasing Study, which will identify the chronological order in which improvements should be implemented, including the entire ring road network, and 2) a Seven Corners Transportation Funding Plan, both as to the sources of funds and the amounts of funds.

It is anticipated that the studies will commence in late 2015. The phasing study will take about 20 months; the funding study will take about 13 months, and both studies will be conducted concurrently. Funding for the studies has been secured. In January 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved Transportation Project Priorities funding for FY2015 through FY2020. I was able to set aside $3 million in the TPP for advancing improvements to the Seven Corners Interchange at that time, pending approval of the Seven Corners Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Also on Tuesday, the Board endorsed submission of the Seven Corners Ring Road, Phase 1A/Segment 1A, as a project to be submitted for FY2017 – FY2022 State Funding through the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s HB2 Selection Process.

On Saturday, all eight Fairfax County police stations will host Operation Medicine Cabinet Clean Out. From 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., you can get rid of your unused or expired prescription medications in a safe, free, confidential, and eco-friendly manner. Pills or liquids only; please no pressurized canisters or needles! Sponsored by the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County and the Fairfax County Police Department, Operation Medicine Cabinet Clean-Out has been a very popular event in past years. You don’t have to worry about your medicines falling into the wrong hands, or being misused by youngsters. Last year, many constituents brought in shopping bags full of old medications. You can remove the labels or cross out personal information before dropping the medication, container and all, into a secure receptacle that will be taken to the county’s waste-to-energy plant for incineration. Please do not flush old medications, as they can contaminate water supplies. The closest police stations for News-Press readers are the Mason District Station at 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale, and the McLean District Station at 1437 Balls Hill Road in McLean.

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