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JANUARY 15, 2016
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 44
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INSIDENOVA.COM
Three projects to help 610 traffic JILL PALERMO
For the Stafford County Sun
For Jeff Simons, the worry about widening Garrisonville Road comes down to this: People usually don’t get their cars washed in the morning on their way to work. But plenty of people stop at the 610 Car Wash in the late afternoon on their way home from work. In fact, that’s when the 28-year-old, full-service car wash is most busy, Simons said. Now that the stretch of road in front of 610 Car Wash will be a divided highway, allowing for right turns only, the question on Simons’ mind is whether his customers will continue to stop at his car wash if they have to make a U-turn to get there. He’s worried they might not. “This is a very hard blow,” Simons said of plans to widen Garrisonville from four lanes to six. “We understand progress, but at the same time it’s something that could hurt us. It could definitely change the business quite a bit.” As local and state transportation officials lay out plans to make major improvements to North Stafford’s main artery — known as Garrisonville Road or Va. 610 — some business owners are voicing concerns about the effect of the project on their businesses. • Mike’s Diner was the first to push back against the widening plans when the county said it would need to claim a parking area in front of the restaurant for the project. County officials say they’re still working to resolve the problem, possibly by helping Mike’s obtain new parking on an adjacent lot. • Owner Adolfo Urrutia has been operating Mike’s since 2006, according to his nephew, real estate agent Joel Martinez, who helped him purchase the restaurant. ADOLFO URRUTIA, • Martinez says OWNER OF MIKE’S DINER
North Stafford residents Adela Beftoldi, left, and Nadine LaFleur study plans for the Garrisionville Road widening, during a ‘pardon our dust’ meeting Monday evening at Moncure Elementary School. ALEKS DOLZENKO/ STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
his uncle invested about $700,000 in the building and wants to keep the restaurant open. But he remains worried about whether additional parking can be arranged. • “He wants to stay. His business is up and running, and it’s a very unique place,” Martinez said of the diner, which serves what he calls a “very American-style” breakfast and lunch daily. “But he’s undecided. It’s confusing. We’re going to see what happens.” • Other businesses are also nervous about plans to install a four-foot-wide median in the center of Garrisonville Road, which will eliminate left-turns at all but signal lights. • Professional Collision Center, an autobody shop on 610, is also slated to lose a
slice of land to the project, said Supervisor Laura Sellers, R-Garrisonville. • “We’re working with them to find a better alternative, as well,” Sellers said. Traffic planners say the divided roadway is safer and will move traffic faster on what has become a very crowded roadway. Garrisonville Road is home to dozens of retail stores, restaurants and businesses. In addition to being one of the county’s main commercial arteries, it’s also a main connector between numerous residential neighborhoods, Interstate 95, U.S. 1 and the Quantico Marine Corps base. The four-foot median will run the stretch of the project – from Onville Road to Shenandoah Lane – but will be broken at the intersections of Center Street, Travis Lane and Eustace Road, Owsiak said.
The widening project will expand Va. 610 from four lanes to six and is estimated to cost about $13.8 million. Many details of the project were presented at a “pardon our dust” meeting Jan. 11 at Anne E. Moncure Elementary School. Also discussed were two adjacent projects in the Garrisonville Road corridor: a $14.9 million VDOT project to improve the intersection at Onville Road and an $800,000 county-funded ROUTE 610 project to add a turn PAGE 9 lane at the intersection of
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