The Congresswoman Worked Directly with Stafford County Officials to Deliver Funding for Major Improvements to Onville Road & U.S. Route 1, Purchase New Computerized Emergency Dispatch System for Stafford County Sheriff’s Office

**CLICK HERE for Photos of Spanberger, County Officials, & Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur at Event**

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger yesterday joined Stafford County officials, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, and community leaders to celebrate the federal funding successfully secured for local projects as part of a U.S. House and U.S. Senate-passed fiscal year (FY)2024 appropriations bill. The major investments in these community-requested projects total more than $1.7 million that was signed into law and is now headed to the county.

Spanberger worked directly with Stafford County leaders to solicit these requests, move these projects forward, and ensure they were included in the final package. These investments will help the county widen a section of Onville Road, complete improvements along U.S. Route 1, and purchase a new emergency dispatch system for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

“Since first arriving in Congress, one of my top priorities has been to bring federal resources back home to Virginia. I’ve been proud to work with Stafford County officials, community leaders, and Sheriff Decatur — all of whom have been instrumental in keeping my office informed of how we can best partner to deliver for the community,” said Spanberger. “These direct federal investments will protect drivers on the road, provide safer public spaces for pedestrians, and connect the Sheriff’s Office and the county’s dispatchers with the resources they need to keep their neighbors safe. I’m proud that this funding has been secured for the county, and I look forward to seeing these projects in action.”

STAFFORD COUNTY

Spanberger secured $1,500,000 for Stafford County to make improvements along Onville Road and Route 1 near Courthouse Road. The funding for Onville Road will provide 12-foot travel lanes with curbs and gutters, a two-way left turn lane down the center of the roadway, dedicated turn lanes at the Barrett Heights Road and Garrison Woods Drive intersections, and 5-foot sidewalks along both sides of the roadway. Additionally, this investment will help relieve congestion, ease travel into U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico, and provide a safer environment for pedestrians. This investment will also widen approximately 0.65 miles of Route 1 to provide dedicated left turn lanes onto Courthouse Road, Bells Hill Road, and Hope Road, install a concrete median, and add 8-foot sidewalks to improve pedestrian access.

STAFFORD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Spanberger also secured $246,000 to purchase a computerized emergency dispatch system for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. Once installed, this new system will enable users to input emergency dispatching protocols in the form of question and response prompts. Dispatchers will then use these prompts to identify the most appropriate and personalized response to emergency police calls, allowing a dispatch to be better tailored to the needs of an individual call. The new dispatch system will help eliminate human error and provide local law enforcement with the information necessary to keep the community and themselves safe.

BACKGROUND

For FY2024, the U.S. House of Representatives allowed for specific Community Project Funding requests — as it did in FY2023. Spanberger worked directly with community leaders in localities across Virginia’s Seventh District to gather community-focused requests for her submissions. Click here for the full list of her submissions.

The Community Project Funding process was created to ensure that Members of Congress — in concert with the communities they represent — may submit direct applications for federal funding to support locally planned projects as part of the yearly appropriations process.

To be eligible, projects must be sponsored by local or state government entities or non-profit organizations and must be projects that would otherwise meet the qualifications to apply for federal grant funding. The purpose of Community Project Funding is to ensure direct, local engagement as part of the federal appropriations process. In line with this goal, funding applications needed to demonstrate significant local support for the projects.

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