A message from Manassas Park City Council member Jeanette Rishell:

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A Town Hall for the purpose of receiving public comment on the FY 2017 Program list of projects for Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) funding will be held:

May 25, 2016 at The Old Manassas Courthouse (9248 Lee Avenue, Manassas) from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

The NVTA Public Hearing for the same purpose will be held at the offices of the NVTA (3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200 in Fairfax) on June 9, 2016 beginning at 6 PM with an Open House, followed by a presentation about the process, and then public testimony. Pre-registration to speak may be done at: [email protected]

If your schedule permits, please attend or send your comments to the NVTA via the means mentioned at the end of this email.

Of particular interest to all area residents is the VRE Parking Expansion in Manassas Park.

**This project will take cars off the road and will help alleviate congestion on route 28. It is estimated that 2 VRE trains in an hour carry about 2,000 persons or the equivalent capacity as one lane of traffic on I-66. Increased parking capacity will permit increased use of the VRE, which will help relieve congestion on both route 28 and I-66.

**This project is also multi-jurisdictional in nature. Only 35% of the riders come from Manassas Park. The other 65% of riders come from Prince William County, Manassas City, Fairfax County, and a few from Loudoun County and beyond.

**This Parking Expansion rated very high in the Congestion Reduction Relative to Cost category. This aligns with the intent of the legislation HB2313 which states: “The Authority shall give priority to selecting projects that are expected to provide the greatest congestion reduction relative to the cost of the project…”

If your schedule permits, please provide comments in support of the Manassas Park VRE Parking Expansion. If you are not able to attend either event to provide direct input, please consider sending your comments via the following:

Email: [email protected]

Mail: 3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22031

Phone: 703-642-4652

Public comment period is from May 13, 2016 through 5:00 PM June 17, 2016.