The planned Soapstone Connector bridge over the Dulles Toll Road has cleared a major federal environmental hurdle, putting the $269.5 million project on track for a late 2032 construction start.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on Nov. 13, 2023, determining that the project "will have no significant impact on the human environment." Fairfax County's Department of Transportation (FCDOT) posted the clearance on its project page in January 2024.
The finding allowed the project to advance into its current design phase. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has since taken over as project manager.
What the project would build
The connector would extend Soapstone Drive about half a mile north from Sunrise Valley Drive to Sunset Hills Road via a new bridge spanning the Dulles Toll Road, the Dulles International Airport Access Highway and the Silver Line Metrorail tracks, according to VDOT's project page.
The new road would carry two lanes, one in each direction, with a painted median. A shared-use path is planned on the east side and a two-way cycle track with a sidewalk on the west side.
The project aims to reduce delays at the Reston Parkway and Wiehle Avenue crossings over the toll road and improve access around the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station. The Reston Metrorail Access Group (RMAG) originally recommended the connection, and it is included in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan for the Reston area.
Environmental and historic impacts
The FONSI followed years of review. FHWA approved the original Environmental Assessment (EA) for public comment in August 2017. A revised EA was approved for public availability on May 4, 2022, after changes to the project and its impacts.
One sticking point: the project would have an adverse effect on the Association Drive Historic District, a cluster of nine buildings south of the Dulles Corridor and north of Sunrise Valley Drive. A Memorandum of Agreement among FHWA, Virginia's state historic preservation officer, VDOT and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors calls for building and landscape surveys, three wayside markers identifying the historic district and a public history report.
The U.S. Department of the Interior agreed there is no feasible alternative to using land from the historic district and concurred that the chosen route causes the least overall harm, according to the FONSI document.
Six businesses would be relocated, including five in a multi-tenant building at 11501 Sunset Hills Road and the National Association of Secondary School Principals at 1904 Association Drive. No homes would be displaced.
Timeline and cost
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed the preferred route at its Sept. 13, 2022, meeting after transportation staff studied roughly 31 alternatives, as FFXnow reported in October 2024.
VDOT's project page, last updated Sept. 24, 2026, lists the estimated cost at $269.5 million. Funding comes from federal, state, local and Northern Virginia Transportation Authority sources.
The current schedule calls for a location and design public hearing in early 2027, right-of-way acquisition beginning in early 2028, utility relocation starting in mid-2030 and construction advertising in mid-2032. Construction is estimated to begin in late 2032. No completion date has been set.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, a Reston resident now in his second term, led the update to the Reston Comprehensive Plan approved in 2023 and serves on the regional COG Transportation Planning Board, according to his county biography.
VDOT's project page directs residents to check for updates at fairfaxcounty.gov/transportation/projects/soapstone-connector.
