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Stafford supervisors narrow scope of courthouse-area transportation study, authorize TMP/TIF hearings and fund wedge-widening work
Summary
The Board of Supervisors agreed Oct. 15 to narrow a courthouse-targeted development-area transportation study to examine only already-approved development, authorized advertising for public hearings on the Transportation Master Plan and transportation impact fee ordinance, and approved initial wedge‑widening work focused on Treslow Road and Woodstock Lane.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 15 moved to limit the scope of a transportation study for the Courthouse targeted development area to projects already approved by the county, and authorized steps toward broader transportation policy changes aimed at paying for growth-related road improvements.
Matthew Lahane, the county's transportation planning and funding manager, told the board the study — originally developed to analyze both currently approved development and higher-growth scenarios set out in the comprehensive plan — was priced at about $196,000. Lahane said staff has produced two scenarios: one that accounts only for approved development and a second that models comprehensive-plan-level growth. Several supervisors, including Supervisor Vaneuch, pressed staff to limit the study to the known, approved developments to reduce cost and remove uncertainty; others urged planning for the longer-term buildout to avoid redoing work.
The board reached consensus to refine the study's scope to the approved-development scenario and asked staff to return in a few months with the narrowed analysis.
Separately, the board authorized advertising for public hearings on proposed comprehensive-plan amendments tied to the Transportation Master Plan and on ordinances establishing or updating transportation impact fees (TIFs). Lahane said the TIF figures were developed by an on-call consultant using projects from the Transportation Master Plan, growth projections (including FAMPO inputs), and Institute of Transportation Engineers trip-rate assumptions. Board members asked staff to add a clear completion/schedule column to the project list and to confirm whether school-generated trips are captured in the fee model; Lahane said trip generation is based on standardized rates and the model includes growth assumptions but that staff would clarify the school-trip treatment in the documentation.
On capital work, the board approved an initial wedge‑widening funding plan for FY26 that prioritizes Treslow Road (to respond to the expected traffic associated with a planned new high school) and Woodstock Lane. Staff said roughly $3 million in combined SSYP (Safe Streets for Youth/SS4A pass-through) and county wedge funds are available and recommended committing about $1.5 million now toward immediate projects while returning with further prioritization for remaining funds. Supervisors debated whether other roads (notably Poplar and Joshua) with a higher safety ranking should be moved up; staff noted some Poplar sections have recently been repaved and VDOT would not favor wedge work on recently resurfaced segments.
What happens next: staff will return with the narrowed TDA study results and with clarified cost/schedule detail for wedge-widening candidates and will publish the materials necessary for the public hearings on the TMP and TIF changes.
