Prince William Times 01/30/19

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A DYNASTY YOU CAN TRUST: Potomac’s boys lead the Cardinal District. Sports, Page 10

January 30, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 5 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

I-95 bottleneck breakthrough Northam, Transurban announce $1 billion deal to widen lanes near Occoquan bridge By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

A fix for the infamous bottleneck at on Interstate 95 just south of the Occoquan bridge – as well as a new interchange at Opitz Boulevard – are among four projects included in a new $1 billion transportation agreement Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday. Northam (D) held a press confer-

ence in Richmond on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to detail the new deal with Transurban, the Australian company that owns the tolled I-95 and I-495 HOV Express Lanes in Virginia. The primary purpose of the new projects is to extend Transurban’s I-95 toll lanes for an additional 12 miles. That includes 10 miles south to Fredericksburg, to exit 133, under a new project dubbed “FredEx” and two and a half miles north,

along I-495, to the American Legion Bridge. In addition to those two projects, the deal includes the construction of a new southbound “Occoquan auxiliary lane” on I-95 in Woodbridge from Va. 123 to Prince William Parkway as well as a new reversible ramp connecting the existing I-95 Express Lanes at Opitz Boulevard. The ramp will offer Express

Lanes drivers the option to exit directly onto Opitz Boulevard, according to a press release from Northam’s office issued after the press conference. Construction on the projects could begin as soon as 2020 and finish by 2022, according to state Sens. Jeremy McPike, D-29th, and Scott Surovell, D-36th, two Prince William County area state lawmakers. See I-95, page 4

2,000 teachers rally in state capital for raises, better school funding By Karen Chaffraix Times Staff Writer

More than 2,000 teachers and supporters of the Virginia Education Association descended upon Richmond Monday, visiting state lawmakers and then rallying on the Capitol steps. The group included about 20 teachers from Prince William schools and about 200 from neighboring Fauquier County. Fauquier County schools Superintendent David Jeck was one of eight speakers during the rally and the only superintendent to deliver a message to the sea of red-clad educators whose frustration over years of stalled salary increases and a general lack of funding for the state’s public schools were heard loud and clear. “It is unfathomable that Virginia teachers are making more than $9,000 less than the national average yet, judged by a number of indicators, are delivering a first-class education,” Jeck said. Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston, a former Prince William County middle school teacher, led the rally. “I am mad as hell,” Livingston began, standing midway up the grand, white-marble steps of the state Capitol.

‘Fund our future’ TIMES STAFF PHOTO/KAREN CHAFFRAIX

A Virginia Education Association - sponsored rally in Richmond Monday brought more than 2,000 teachers together on the steps of the Capitol to advocate for raises and better school funding. About 15 teachers represented Prince William, about 200 attended from Fauquier County. “We have crumbling infrastructure in our schools; teachers and staff paid far below the national average; technology that either doesn’t work or doesn’t exist…We now demand that the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia fund our schools,” Livingston said. The crowd broke again and again INSIDE Calendar.............................................15 Classified............................................20 Lifestyle..............................................13 Obituaries...........................................19

into chants: “Fund our future! Fund our future!” “This is not the end. This is only the beginning,” he added. “It is time for the legislators to get on board or get out of the way.” In the crowd, National Education Association director for Virginia Carol Bauer explained that until reOpinion.................................................9 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................18 Sports.................................................11

cently, VEA members were reticent to associate the word “union” with their group because Virginia is a right-to-work state where public employees do not have collective-bargaining rights and face termination if they strike. See SCHOOL FUNDING, page 4

86 WARRENTON, VA


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