The George Washington Regional Commission includes representatives from every locality in Planning District 16.
The needs and demographics of those localities range wildly, however, from the semi-urban city of Fredericksburg to the very rural King George and Caroline counties. Monday night, the board made a move to create a new standing committee solely dedicated to working on projects for its two most rural communities.
The new Rural Transportation Advisory Committee was formed in response to concerns that the larger Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO) technical advisory committee (TAC) wasn’t dedicating enough resources to the counties.
“We’re too small to be of importance for the big projects,” Caroline Board of Supervisors Chair Nancy Long said at a recent supervisors meeting. “Nothing is more frustrating than sitting for a two-hour meeting and not having any input or votes.”
Long, along with fellow Caroline Supervisor Jeff Black and King George County Supervisors Cathy Binder and David Sullins, all serve on the GWRC board. The RTAC will make its own recommendations for King George and Caroline counties, providing them both to GWRC and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).
FAMPO administrator Ian Ollis said it was the first time in his tenure with the organization that a request has been made to establish a brand new committee.
“We’ve never done this before. So it’s a great moment in GWRC’s and in FAMPO’s life,” Ollis said. “I thought about this a lot and for a long time before raising this issue, but I began to see that the FAMPO TAC was really not doing justice to the rural jurisdictions… we are doing them a disservice.”
Transportation Program Manager Kari Eaves walked the board through the technical aspects of the committee, which would meet quarterly in the counties and aid them in working through the Rural Transportation Work Program. The committee would aim to provide higher-quality project development, more effective and convenient communication, and regional planning that is aligned with rural priorities.
The Rural Work Program — the annual scope of work agreed upon between GWRC and the rural counties — would focus on VDOT statewide planning assistance, local and regional analysis and planning support, and addressing Caroline and King George transportation study needs — all without additional funding.
The committee will be made up of local VDOT members, GWRC staff and two members of each county’s planning staff.
The board unanimously agreed to establish the committee, which would begin in the first quarter of FY26, and then approved the draft FY26 Rural Work Program.
In other board action, the commission approved moving an additional $499,654 in Vanpool Alliance funding to the Brooke Station Improvements project and then consolidating a total of $2.8 million to the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) for station improvements at both Brooke Station and Leeland Road Stations.
The move means the money will be fully allocated to whichever project comes up first so that the commission is not trying to balance funds on two different projects. Both stations are slated for work to expand the existing side platform to improve operational efficiency and accommodate eight-car trains.
