Key Approvals Won for 7 Corners Ring Road

by Charlie Clark

Planners of the long-envisioned Seven Corners ring road have officially ruled out disruptive new routes through Falls Church City, according to the latest study of remedies for a major headache for area travelers.

But the ambitious project for the broader area is advancing. The urgency?

Crash data from the Virginia Roads website plots locations for more than 100 traffic accidents near the Seven Corners central intersection from 20182023.

Pedestrians jaywalking across Wilson Blvd. to enter the Eden Center on crowded Saturdays have raised concern among staff at the AAA office across the street.

And commenters on TripAdvisor express a fear of driving through the 1950s-vintage namesake interchange that integrates nonstop traffic entering from both directions on Route 7 and Route 50, Hillwood Ave., Wilson Blvd. and Sleepy Hollow Rd.

Help is finally, if slowly, on the way.

The Fairfax Transportation Department last month released its “Seven Corners Phasing Study” laying out plans for the new ring road that will traverse parts of Falls Church, Arlington and Fairfax. The goal is to siphon off a portion of non-local traffic. from the overloaded central intersection.

Reflecting public comment from hearings held last November 10-11, the document details a four-phase construction plan to create the ring road designed to improve the roadway and ease bicycle and pedestrian access, as envisioned in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan.

“We do recognize the danger, and it’s a very complicated interchange to get through, both from pedestrian and vehicle point of view,” Mike Garcia, chief of the Fairfax County Transportation

Planning Section, told the News-Press . “So the plan is to uncomplicate the interchange so it’s easier for people to walk through and bike through as well as navigate by vehicle. We want people to get directly to Route 7 and Route 50 and Wilson Boulevard by choosing a path that is more understandable. But we do not want to disperse them through the area.”

The new report, based on the work by project manager Nanditha Paradkar, consultants and traffic forecasts to 2030 and 2045, also reflects planning by a task force that

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