This Funding Will Help Complete Major Improvements to Onville Road & U.S. Route 1, Purchase New Computerized Emergency Dispatch System for Stafford County Sheriff’s Office

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden on Saturday signed into law U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger’s legislation that will provide $1,746,000 for Stafford County to make much-needed infrastructure and public safety improvements — including widening a section of Onville Road, completing improvements along U.S. Route 1, and purchasing a new emergency dispatch system for the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

This investment — which Spanberger secured as part of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate-passed fiscal year (FY)2024 appropriations package — includes $1,000,000 to widen and realign approximately 0.45 miles of Onville Road. This funding 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.The investment will help fund this project to relieve congestion, ease travel into U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico, and provide a safer environment for pedestrians.

Spanberger also secured $500,000 for Stafford County to complete improvements along U.S. Route 1 near Courthouse Road. Currently, inadequate turn lane infrastructure in this area of U.S. Route 1 contributes to severe traffic congestion, especially during morning and evening commute times. This investment will widen approximately 0.65 miles of U.S. 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.

Additionally, Spanberger 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.

“Transportation and public safety are among our biggest priorities,” said Meg Bohmke, Chairman, Stafford Board of Supervisors. “This $1.5 million award will help us with two of our critical transportation projects and the other award would assist our Sheriff’s Office. We are grateful to Congresswoman Spanberger for her crucial role in helping us receive these awards.”

“I’ve been proud to work with Stafford County to secure federal funding for unique investments in their communities, and I’m glad that more than $1.7 million was signed into law for these community-selected projects. Widening Onville Road and making much-needed improvements along U.S. Route 1 are projects that will strengthen these communities, invest in our local economy, and support local jobs,” said Spanberger. “I’ve also been proud to work with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office to successfully secure funding for a new computerized emergency response system that will help dispatchers decide how to send help to their neighbors who need it and best direct the law enforcement officers who answer the call. These investments to strengthen our physical infrastructure and improve public safety are investments in every Virginian who lives or works in the region — every Virginian who drives on these roads and spends time in the community.”

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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