The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is holding a Public Design Hearing on Herndon’s East Spring Street Widening Project, on Thursday, March 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Herndon Community Center, 814 Ferndale Drive, Herndon. All citizens are encouraged to attend and to participate in the design public hearing.

The Smart Scale Project website, smartportal.virginiahb2.org provides a detailed project description for the East Spring Street Widening Project (UPC 105521) as follows: "The scope of this project is to widen and reconstruct Spring Street from 4 to 6 lanes between Fairfax County Parkway and Herndon Parkway, channel traffic with raised median and dedicated turning lanes between Fairfax County Parkway and Herndon Parkway, and add turning lanes on approaches to the intersection of Herndon Parkway and Spring Street. Key access management and congestion relief measures are:

1. Widen Spring Street eastbound by one lane between the Fairfax County Parkway Ramps and Herndon Parkway, continuing approximately 650 feet west of Herndon Parkway.

2. Widen Spring Street westbound by one lane for approximately 400 feet from the Fairfax County Parkway Ramps to the point where the existing right-turn lane begins.

3. Reconfigure the Fairfax County Parkway off-ramp at Spring Street to accommodate an exclusive southbound left turn lane.

4. Add two dedicated northbound right turn lanes on Herndon Parkway at Spring Street.

5. Add a second dedicated left turn lane on southbound Herndon Parkway at Spring Street.

6. Reconfigure the existing traffic signals at the Herndon Parkway/Spring Street and Spring Street/Fairfax County Parkway Ramps intersections to accommodate the above lane use changes.

7. Create a safe pedestrian crossing of the ramp to southbound Fairfax County Parkway along the southern side of Spring Street and connect that crossing to nearby sidewalks;

8. Enhance safety facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users (i.e., ADA accessible wide sidewalks/curb cuts, street-print crosswalks, pedestrian crossing/refuge islands, pedestrian/audio signalization, curb radius reduction); and

9. Site access management and median controls. Mobility for drivers is projected to be maintained without significant impacts to pedestrian, bicycle, or bus operations. Furthermore, this plan establishes access to the Herndon Metro Station Area with the highest priority going to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users."

Smartportal.virginiahb2.org reports Spring Street is a direct route to the town's adopted Urban Development Area (UDA #23) designated in Herndon's 2030 Comprehensive Plan citing the UDA will become an employment destination area and is expected to host almost 15,000 jobs. "The ability of Spring Street to convey goods and people in and out of Herndon is crucial to the economic viability of the town's UDA. Forecast to transport up to 43,950 trips per day in 2035 amid vehicular weaving movements to and from Fairfax County Parkway, the eastern portion of Spring Street is in need of congestion mitigation, capacity improvements, and multimodal enhancements.”

This project is being financed with federal and state funding, including Smart Scale funding. The current estimate is $11,468,331.