Urban Revitalization: Richmond Highway's Billion-Dollar Transit-Oriented Overhaul
The Richmond Highway's $937 million Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) mega project in southeastern Fairfax County is making significant progress, with construction set to begin in 2027 and be fully operational by 2031. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation recently received federal approval from the Federal Transit Administration to commence the engineering phase. This marks a major design milestone that will lead directly to final design and construction.
The 7.4-mile BRT system, named The One, aims to revitalize the Richmond Highway corridor, Route 1, with eight new transit station areas. Each station will support compact, medium-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented redevelopments, also known as transit-oriented development (TOD). These new urban nodes are designed to catalyze smart growth and economic development along Richmond Highway, transforming the auto-dominated highway into distinct new districts that are transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly and mixed-use. Additionally, the BRT will pave the way for a proposed future Metro extension from Huntington Station to Hybla Valley.
The Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation (SFDC), in partnership with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Fairfax County Planning and Development Department (FCDPD), recently commissioned the Richmond Highway Corridor Placemaking Report. This report identifies new strategies for placemaking based on the following four pillars: 1) Highlight Identity, 2) Promote Communication, 3) Highlight History and 4) Economic Support for Small Businesses.
Given the nearly $1 billion future investment, the benefits of being designated a Commercial Revitalization District and the current cost of land, the Richmond Highway corridor is primed for redevelopment. Given that the corridor already serves as a connection between Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County's largest employer, and Amazon HQ2/Washington, D.C., Richmond Highway and the new transit infrastructure offer a great opportunity for transit-oriented redevelopment.
Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia Land Use Team has extensive experience along the Richmond Highway Corridor. During his time working at Fairfax County, Holland & Knight Land Use Planner Anthony DeLorenzo, LEED AP ND, served as the lead urban designer for this transformative project, overseeing the development of urban concepts that transformed current land use and transportation conditions into distinct multimodal transit-oriented districts.