Brentsville Road Interchange Project Connects Roads, Protects Pedestrians and Cyclists

The Brentsville Road Interchange is officially open, introducing a pedestrian and bicycling bridge across Va. 234 near Brentsville Road.  

The $54.9-million project provides an interchange connecting the Route 234 Bypass, the Prince William County Parkway, Dumfries and Brentsville roads. 

The completion of the project, fully funded by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega, whose district is where the project is located. 

“It’s a great day here for the Coles District,” Vega told a crowd of about 100 that included elected officials, residents and county staff at the ceremony on the bridge. “I always refer to my district as the heart of Prince William County. You cannot connect the east and the west without the Coles District. This is a project that has been long overdue and in the making. Today, we join our department of transportation and our partners to celebrate another roadway and pedestrian facility project that serves the Prince William County community. “  

The ceremony was also attended by Brentsville District Supervisor Tom Gordy, Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye and County Executive Chris Shorter. Shorter said the project fits the Prince William Board of County Supervisors’ goal of making the county a place where people can live, work and play.   

“We cannot do that if we are not doing the investments in the county to increase mobility, and this is what this project represents,” Shorter said. “We are making it a priority and will continue to make it a priority to invest in the roads, the road widenings and the interchanges to make mobility a focus here in the county.”   

Prince William County Trails and Blueways Council Coles District Representative Joe Marshall thanked the Board, the NVTA and the Virginia Department of Transportation for their contributions to the project. The council is a 16-member advisory panel appointed by the Board of County Supervisors that advises the Board and the Prince William County Department of Parks and Recreation on the development of trails and blueways across the county.     

Marshall expressed his excitement about the first pedestrian bridge built in the county. “Biking over this pedestrian bridge is so much better than dodging traffic coming off of a high-speed roadway,” Marshall said. “This is an awesome bridge and hopefully the first of several needed throughout the county to realize the mobility trail network in the county’s comprehensive plan. I believe my neighbors and I, and many in the county, will feel the benefits of this intersection for years to come.”   

According to Prince William Department of Transportation Director Rick Canizales, the project was first considered in 2019, went under contract in 2020 and was completed ahead of schedule. 

“This is a design build job. We were able to design it and build it at the same time. We're one of the only counties that uses this method to build projects outside of VDOT,” said Canizales. “We were able to get a groundbreaking in ’22, and two years later here we are with a fully built project where we added this pedestrian bridge, that you are seeing here today, into the project to be able to make it pedestrian-friendly, bicycle-friendly and making sure that we are connecting our major facilities around the county.”    

NVTA Chief Executive Officer Monica Backmon said that Prince William County is a busy place when it comes to mobility projects.  

“I think the county serves as a model. Get the money. Get to the groundbreaking and get to the ribbon cutting. At the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, we are extremely pleased to fully fund this multi-modal project,” Backmon said. “This county is more than roads, roads and roads. It’s about access. It’s about opportunity. At the Authority, we always say the there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but we are trying to solve the region’s congestion woes. I want to note that we are extremely proud to partner with Prince William County. I’m telling you projects like these do not come to fruition without collaboration, without partnership.”  

Design Build Major Pursuits, Wagman Heavy Civil, Inc., served as the contractor for the project. According to company Vice President Anthony Bednarik, the project went as smoothly as any he has worked on in 25 years.  

“Prince William County has been a tremendous owner. They jumped in, rolled their sleeves up at the work…. All that being said, we were done a month early,” said Bednarik. “I want to say, ‘Thank you,” I hope there's an opportunity to work with the county in the future. We're very excited. We've been doing design build for 25 years, and this has been one of the most collaborative and easy process in the design build. Everybody worked for the goals of the project to get it done on time and under budget.”    

Watch the Buzz video about the event here.