The House-Passed Funding Would 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. — The U.S. House of Representatives today voted to pass U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger’s legislation that would 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 a House-passed fiscal year (FY)2024 appropriations package — includes $1,000,000 to widen and realign approximately 0.45 miles of Onville Road to 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 would 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 would 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. The new system would enable users to input emergency dispatching protocols in the form of question and response prompts. Dispatchers would 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 would help eliminate human error and provide local law enforcement with the information necessary to keep the community and themselves safe.

“Stafford County demonstrates a strong commitment to identifying and addressing the unique needs of their community, and I’ve been proud to work directly with local officials and leaders to secure funding in the House-passed appropriations package. These much-needed physical infrastructure and public safety improvements would better connect communities and help local law enforcement officers keep Virginians safe. Smart, localized infrastructure improvements are responsible uses of federal dollars — and these federal funds to increase Onville Road’s capacity and complete U.S. Route 1 improvements are investments in the Stafford County community,” said Spanberger. “Additionally, dispatchers often have to make split-second determinations as to how to send local law enforcement officers to answer a call. A new computerized emergency response system would help them get the right help to neighbors who need it. I’m grateful to Stafford County for working directly with my office to move these valuable projects forward.”

“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.”

Spanberger worked directly with Stafford County to make sure the projects were included in this federal funding legislation. The FY2024 appropriations package now goes to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.

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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