Tonight VDOT Unveils Plans for Sound Muffling Walls Along the Dulles Connector

VDOT invites the neighbors over to Lemon Road School tonight to find out about plans to construct sound walls on the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267), for three miles in both directions from Route 123 (Dolley Madison Boulevard) to I-66.

The sound walls will be constructed to help muffle noise from the new Metro Silver line that will operate from downtown Washington to Reston. The new subway line is under construction down the median of the Dulles Connector Road.

Stop by anytime between 7 and 9 p.m. to view displays and learn more about the project. VDOT staff will be available to answer your questions.

"In the last session of the General Assembly, Sen. Janet Howell, D-Reston and a bit of McLean, and Del. Jim Scott, D-Pimmit Hills to Merrifield, got an amendment to the budget passed that required sound walls to be built along the Dulles Connector," said Jim Phelps, chair of the Transportation Committee of the McLean Citizens Association. 

"VDOT has developed a design for the sound walls and is presenting this design to the public on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The design calls for 10-foot sound walls along most of the connector," Phelps explained.

A VDOT spokesman said that a sound wall was built recently to shield residents of the townhouses in Hallcrest. The Silver Line (and I-66) go right in the back of Hallcrest.

There are some existing wooden sound walls that range in height from 8 feet to 15 feet, the VDOT spokesman said.

Cost: $35 million for state funds. VDOT plans to start construction in early 2013. The new Silver Line is on schedule to open in late 2013.

Meeting Information: 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 14

Lemon Road Elementary School, 7230 Idylwood Road, Falls Church

Give your written comments at the meeting or submit them by Dec. 27 to Hamid Misaghain, P.E., Virginia Department of Transportation, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, Va. 22030. Telephone 703-259-1795 or 800-367-7623. You can also email comments to meeting_comments@vdot.virginia.gov. Please reference “Sound Walls Comment” in the subject line.