Route 7 Widening Project

Last updated on May 28, 2019.

The Route 7 Corridor Project will improve almost seven miles of Route 7 between Reston and Tysons, primarily by widening the road from four to six lanes and making major intersection improvements. For bicyclists and pedestrians, the project will add 10-foot wide shared-use paths on both sides of Route 7. These improvements are intended to increase capacity, improve safety and traffic flow, and enhance mobility for cyclists and pedestrians – all in conformity with Fairfax County’s Comprehensive Plan.

The paths occasionally will narrow to eight feet where turn lanes in the road are present. In all cases they will be separated from the road by a shoulder/gutter and a strip of grass.  There are portions of the corridor where sound walls are being installed, and unfortunately the paths will be inside the walls. But, there will be enough room to maintain the 10-foot width with the other separations.

The plan includes installing a new bridge over Difficult Run near Colvin Mill. The paths will run over the bridge above grade with a barrier but will only be 8-foot wide. There will be guard rails at both ends of the bridge that also will separate the path from the road.

Although not scheduled for completion until 2024, initial construction will start in 2019.

Latest Info

New Bridge Over Difficult Run Near Colvin Mill Park.

Two public hearings were held in May 2019. During the first meeting, some attendees expressed their opposition to the two paths with one person proposing that a path on only one side of Route 7 was enough. At the second meeting, FABB’s Bruce Wright spoke up in support of the project finally connecting the many short segments already built along Route 7. He also pointed out that the proposed changes to the Baron Cameron intersection posed serious problems for cyclists to traverse. He suggested some possible traffic signal solutions to reduce the danger of the intersection’s free flowing merge lane.