Washington Gas is moving forward with plans to install a massive, 24-inch diameter, high-pressure gas transmission main through the narrow residential streets of Pimmit Hills in Fairfax County. This pipeline, called "Strip 1 Tysons," would run for 1.6 miles under narrow neighborhood roads, passing more than 160 homes. It will not serve a single household in Pimmit Hills. Instead, it will carry massive volumes of high-pressure gas--hundreds of times more gas per pipe foot compared to the much smaller service mains that actually deliver gas to Pimmit homes--to Washington Gas’ other downstream clients in the wider Maryland/DC/Virginia area.

Why this matters to ALL Fairfax County residents

If Washington Gas succeeds here, it sets a dangerous precedent: large transmission mains could be routed through any neighborhood in Fairfax County if the company can secure a land use permit from VDOT. Our county and state should not allow residential streets to become a typical corridor for large-scale transmission mains like the Strip 1 Tysons pipeline.

A safer, smarter alternative exists

There is a common-sense alternative: route the pipeline along Magarity Road and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) where Fairfax County and VDOT are already planning a major Route 7 widening project. See maps below.

• The construction schedules now align: Back when Strip 1 Tysons was originally planned, the Route 7 widening, was a far-off, uncertain project. But now the Route 7 widening is 40% funded and planned for completion by 2031. Meanwhile, Washington Gas plans to complete the Strip 1 Tysons project between 2026 and 2028.
• Fairfax County’s transportation department has already pledged to coordinate right-of-way and utility planning along Route 7.
•  If the projects were combined, the pipeline would go under one of the new lanes being added to Route 7, and would naturally have to occur at the beginning of the widening project, after the space is cleared for the new lanes but before the roadway is built. The general schedule is highly compatible.
• Federal regulations do not require Washington Gas to finish until 2037, giving plenty of time for coordination and construction.
• Installing the pipeline under new lanes cleared for Route 7 would be less disruptive and far safer than trenching through a dense neighborhood.

In July 2025, State Senator Saddam Salim and Delegate Marcus Simon lobbied VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich on behalf of their constituents, pushing them to revisit use their power over land use permits to make this common-sense approach happen. Read their letter to VDOT here, and read this article at the PHCA website for more background information and the many benefits of a combined approach for these two major infrastructure projects. 

The risks of the Pimmit Hills route

• Safety hazards: Large construction equipment working in close proximity to sidewalks, aging homeowner sewer laterals (some dating back to the 1950s) and under low-hanging wires creates unacceptable risk.
• Homeowner costs: Sewer laterals that cross the pipeline route could be damaged or compromised, and Fairfax homeowners—not the county—are legally responsible for those repairs, which can cost $15,000–$35,000 each.
• Daily disruption: Driveways would be intermittently blocked for weeks at a time (daytime driveway access requires requesting and waiting for a steel plate to be laid over the trench). Streets too narrow for two-way traffic would face alternating one-way closures, detours, and safety conflicts with heavy trucks.
• No precedent: This type of transmission main routing—which contains over a mile through narrow residential streets too small to be classified roadways by VDOT—has never been done before in Fairfax County.
• Conflicts with residential construction: Pimmit Hills was originally built in the 1950s and has over 1,600 homes and is undergoing a wave of residential construction that makes it one of the densest redevelopment areas in Fairfax County. 

What we’re asking

We call on VDOT and Fairfax County to:

• Reject any new land use permits that route the Strip 1 Tysons pipeline through Pimmit Hills.
• Require Washington Gas to coordinate with the Route 7 widening project and route the pipeline along arterial roadways, where it belongs.
• Protect Fairfax neighborhoods from becoming pipeline corridors for infrastructure that does not serve them.

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This isn’t just about Pimmit Hills: In 2023, a single Fairfax County Circuit judge overturned a 6:1 decision Fairfax Board of Zoning Appeals decision on this issue, setting the precedent that Washington Gas can install pipes of any size and pressure anywhere in the county where they can get a VDOT land use permit, with zero oversight by the county. So the larger issue at play here is about whether any neighborhood in Fairfax County could be forced to host a transmission main pipeline simply because it’s convenient for Washington Gas–even when that transmission main does not serve that neighborhood.

Strip 1 Tysons existing route and plans

Washington Gas calls this project a "replacement" of the old transmission line under Route 7, but the Strip 1 Tysons pipeline is not an actual replacement. The old line will remain in service at a lower pressure, exempt from federal oversight.

The five-mile route of additional pipeline, which deviates up to 1.5 miles from the original route down Route 7, is planned for small neighborhood roads instead of major roads like Magarity Road and Route 7.

Fairfax County residents...

...do you live near a Washington Gas pipeline? (see blue lines below) If so, as Washington Gas updates its aging transmission lines, thanks to VDOT's willingness to grant a land use permit for projects like this through neighborhoods, and Fairfax County's unwillingness to assert authority over the public land it is responsible for, your neighborhood could be next!

Stand up for Pimmit Hills, Fairfax County residents, and common-sense infrastructure construction and coordination. 

Sign the petition and share it with friends and neighbors!