Officials broke ground for the U.S. Route 1 widening project April 28 outside Fort Belvoir's Lieber Gate. The project will widen a 3.5-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1 (Richmond Highway) from four to six lanes from Telegraph Road to Mount Vernon Highway ...

Fort Belvoir, Va. (May 1, 2014) - Officials broke ground for the U.S. Route 1 widening project Monday outside Fort Belvoir's Lieber Gate.

The $180 million project will widen a 3.5-mile stretch of U.S. Route 1 (Richmond Highway) from four to six lanes from Telegraph Road to Mount Vernon Highway in Fairfax County, directed by a partnership between the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division; the Virginia Department of Transportation; Fairfax County, Va., and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir.

During the ceremony, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir Commander Col. Gregory D. Gadson said he was excited for the project to get started.

"This widening is something we have long waited for and this is a special day for us all, most certainly for Fort Belvoir's work force," he said. "The wider road promises to help them get to work better in the morning and to get home to their Families in the evening."

"Taken along with the opening of Mulligan Road in a couple of months, the future looks very bright for all of us to be able to move around the Mount Vernon and Springfield areas more easily," he added.

Mulligan Road, the new connector road between Route 1 and Telegraph Road, is set to open in June, which will allow drivers an alternate route while Route 1 is under construction.

Route 1 has come a long way since its beginnings as an Indian path in the 1600s, Gadson said.

"The Army paved it in 1918 for $425,000. It was primarily a two-lane road for vehicles to travel between Alexandria and Camp Humphreys," Gadson said. "In nearly 100 years since, the Army and the community have continued to partner in the road development here, and today we add a new page in Richmond Highway's history book."

Ten elected officials and project partners spoke during the ceremony.

Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said the project is the result of the partner organizations working together.

"This is something that we've been working toward for 20 years. We would not be here today except for the extraordinary partnership between Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County and the Federal Highway Administration, and the support of our federal representatives," she said.

In addition to widening the road, the Route 1 project will improve the existing roadway, add pedestrian and bike paths and provide better access to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Bulova said.

"This project will help realize our goal to alleviate congestion and ultimately improve the quality of life for those who live and work along the Route 1/Richmond Highway corridor," she said.

Bulova specifically thanked Congressman James P. "Jim" Moran, 8th District, U.S. House of Representatives, for working to obtain funding for the project.

"This project in particular would not have happened without - not just Jim's dogged persistence - but also creativity, because he found a pot of money that was exactly tailored to this purpose and made it possible for us to have funding," she said.

Moran also spoke during the ceremony, and said the Route 1 project will improve the region's "economic vitality."

"The groundbreaking here today and the opening of Mulligan Road next month is going to be a major step toward building this partnership, maintaining the fort's welcoming embrace of the community and contribute overall to make Fairfax the kind of place … that we would all want to work and live in," he said.

Other guest speakers at the ceremony included Gerald E. Connolly, 11th District, U.S. House of Representatives; Linda "Toddy" Puller, 36th District, Senate of Virginia; Mark D. Sickles, 43rd District, Virginia House of Delegates; Scott A. Surovell, 44th District, Virginia House of Delegates; Gerald W. Hyland, Mount Vernon District, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Jeff C. McKay, Lee District, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and Melisa Ridenour, division engineer, Federal Highway Administration.

The project is funded in part by the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment and is expected to be completed in 2016.

For more information, visit http://rte1ftbelvoir.com or www.facevook.com/rte1fortbelvoir.