Prince William County Planning Commission recommends FY2026–2031 Capital Improvements Program

The Prince William County Planning Commission unanimously recommended adoption of the county’s FY2026–2031 Capital Improvements Program (DPA2025-00015) at its March 27 public hearing. Commissioners voted to forward the CIP, together with recommendations that staff reexamine planned and future projects — such as fire stations, libraries and parking garages — for strategic use of public facilities and land.

Planning Office staff member Ahmad Bezad presented the six-year CIP and described the development process, funding sources and project prioritization. "CIP is a plan, a 6 year plan which prioritize all the major facilities and infrastructure projects across the county," Bezad said, explaining that the plan aligns projects with the comprehensive plan and debt-financing policies and integrates county and school projects.

Staff highlighted 12 new county projects across functional categories. In human services and general government, staff proposed a Homeless Navigation Center (west) with land acquisition beginning this year and design starting in FY2026, and a combined Woodbridge Senior Center and Library with land acquisition underway and $5,000,004 allocated for design in FY2025. A parks initiative would allocate $2,500,000 in FY2026 (rising to $5,000,000 in FY2027) for improvements to existing park facilities, including lighting and comfort stations.

Public safety additions include two new fire-and-rescue facilities: Station 30 (an emergency operations center in Manassas, with land acquisition in FY2025 and design beginning in FY2026) and Station 29 (planned for Lake Ridge), plus replacement projects at Stations 3 and 2. Staff noted Station 3 may require additional land, while Station 2 is expected to be rebuilt on its current Woodbridge site.

Transportation projects feature operational improvements on Route 234 Business/Godwin (design in FY2025; construction FY2027–FY2029), three sidewalk infill projects (Colchester Road; Graham Park Road near Graham Park Middle School; Lines Field Road near Triangle Elementary School) and a 150-space parking facility on Graduation Drive (total cost listed at $5,200,000, with $1,900,000 expected from proffers) to serve Dominion Valley activity centers.

School Division leaders asked the county to allocate nearly $25 million from capital reserves toward school CIP projects. The school CIP includes additions and renovations such as a Moore/Taylor Middle School addition and a Dale City Elementary School addition and renovation; the Division also plans turf and track replacements scheduled through 2028. Dr. Cartlidge, Supervisor of Planning and CIP for the School Division, said the 10-classroom addition at Nokesville School "will be spec'd to middle school specs" and is anticipated to house middle school students initially but could be retrofitted later.

On public facility review (PFR) determinations, staff said 15 projects are exempt from a PFR (mostly replacements), identified Fire and Rescue Station 30/emergency operations center as requiring a full public facility review, and recommended deferral for eight projects lacking sufficient information. Bezad asked the Commission to recommend adoption of the proposed CIP and to make the PFR determinations staff identified.

Commissioners pressed staff on several points during the Q&A: whether the exempt list included specific projects (staff confirmed the list of 15), whether public-private partnerships had been pursued for co-locating housing and public facilities (Matt Cornelius of the Office of Management and Budget said agencies have explored such partnerships but there were no active projects he could recall), and whether federal revenue volatility could affect CIP funding (Cornelius said it was too early to tell and noted capital reserves could be used or projects deferred if necessary).

Commissioner Schiefler moved that the Planning Commission recommend adoption of DPA2025-00015 for FY2026 and that staff reexamine future projects for strategic use of public facilities and land; the motion was seconded and carried in a unanimous roll-call vote (Vice Chair Brown, Commissioner Carroll, Commissioner Justice, Commissioner Ross, Commissioner Moses Smith, Commissioner Schiefler all voting Yes). The staff recommendation and the Commission’s recommendation will proceed to the Board of County Supervisors for review and final adoption.

Next steps: the Planning Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Supervisors as part of the budget review and CIP adoption process; staff will also bring forward full PFR materials for projects identified as requiring full review (notably Fire and Rescue Station 30).