North Woodbridge's Town Center Has Been on Paper Since 2019. The First Road Is Finally Getting Built.

Today Marina Way ends at Annapolis Way. Prince William County's environmental assessment for the project says the road has no direct access to the Woodbridge VRE station, the Occoquan River waterfront, the commuter lot or the proposed town center. The North Woodbridge Small Area Plan, adopted in October 2019, made the extension of that road the town center's future main street and a walking route toward a planned waterfront boardwalk.

On August 25, 2026, VDOT authorized the county to award the construction contract. Seven years after the plan, the first piece is moving.

The Marina Way road is the only part of the North Woodbridge town center with a construction window. The pedestrian bridge has federal funding, and VRE's station work is still in development. The private town center those projects are meant to serve has rezoning approvals but no published construction schedule. Anyone buying near Belmont Bay, Rivergate or the VRE station this fall is buying into roughly two years of road work. They are also buying in a regional market that has given buyers more room than they had a year ago.

Four Projects, Four Different Clocks

Each project in North Woodbridge is at a different stage, and the stage matters more than the headline.

The bottom row is the one listings tend to lean on. Potomac Local reported that Riverside Station would put up to 970 homes and 130,000 square feet of retail on about 19 acres across Route 1 from the VRE station, built in phases. It is a private project, so it is not on the county's capital schedule, and a rezoning does not set a start date. Four years after that vote, the county's capital program has no construction calendar for the town center a buyer may picture.

Why the Road Has to Come First

The town center plan depends on a street that does not exist yet. The county's project page describes the Marina Way Extension as a 0.26-mile, four-lane road between Route 123 at Gordon Boulevard and Annapolis Way, with a 5-foot sidewalk, turn lanes and signal changes. The environmental assessment says the extension would give the area an internal road and better walking, biking and transit access to the VRE station, the waterfront and the planned town center.

The pieces are meant to link up in order:

• Annapolis Way connector. In May 2025 the county described a 0.28-mile link between Annapolis Way and Marina Way as nearing completion, opening travel between Route 123 and Route 1.
• Marina Way Extension. This becomes the main street once it is built.
• Pedestrian bridge. It would connect the future town center to the Woodbridge VRE platform. Rep. Eugene Vindman's office announced $1 million in federal funding in March 2026.
• Ferry terminal. The 2019 plan names Occoquan Harbour Marina as a possible site for a future fast ferry terminal. No terminal or service has been announced.

People already live here waiting for these connections. Potomac Local reported that IDI Group's Rivergate North, with 402 apartments, was finished and leased in 2018. The same report said Viridium, its 318-unit sister building on the Occoquan River from PTM Partners and The IDI Group Companies, held its completion celebration in January 2023. Those homes went up before the street grid the plan calls for. The road catches up with housing that already exists, and the retail and walkable blocks come after the road.

The Schedule Comes in Two Versions

A buyer trying to figure out when construction ends will find two answers from the county. The September 2026 capital improvement report puts construction from fall 2026 to spring 2028 and marks that timeline as changed from the prior report. It also says the county was still waiting to issue the Notice to Proceed and was coordinating with neighboring developers. The county's road projects page still says late summer 2026 to summer 2027. The September report is the newer of the two, and it has the later finish.

Another project overlaps it. VDOT's I-95 and Route 123 interchange project, a short drive west, is expected to be fully complete in late 2028. In September, Potomac Local reported that Occoquan Road closed to through traffic between Horner Road and Old Bridge Road from Friday night, Sept. 18, to early Monday, Sept. 21, while crews took down part of the southbound I-95 bridge. The detour ran by way of Horner Road, Gordon Boulevard and Old Bridge Road. The project is also adding a shared-use path along northbound Route 123 from Annapolis Way to Devil's Reach Road.

Here are the dates a North Woodbridge owner can actually put on a calendar, in order:

1. Nov. 17, 2026. Bids are due for VRE's Woodbridge East elevator modernization contract.
2. Fall 2026. Marina Way construction is scheduled to begin once the Notice to Proceed is issued.
3. Late 2027. Southbound I-95 work, including the Occoquan Road bridge, is scheduled to wrap up.
4. Spring 2028. Marina Way construction is scheduled to end, according to the September report.
5. Late 2028. The full I-95 and Route 123 interchange project is expected to be complete.

VRE's broader Woodbridge Station Improvements project, covering longer trains, repairs and pedestrian access, was still listed in development as of its November 2025 update.

Belmont Bay Shows How Long Approval Takes

The Belmont Bay vote shows how slowly private plans move here. InsideNoVa reported that the Board of County Supervisors approved Miller & Smith's 348-unit plan on just under 160 acres next to the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on June 2, 2026, after years of consideration and changes.

The plan has three land bays. Marina Overlook has 74 market-rate homes, an outdoor amphitheater and a new mixed-use amenity building. Taylor Point gets a central park and a scenic overlook. Belmont Landing has 172 age-restricted units. The report said about 124 acres across the property is expected to stay open space. The same report said the merged Belmont Bay homeowners association plans a conservation easement with the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust to protect the remaining 100 acres of the former golf course as green space.

That easement is one of the few long-term commitments in the area that does not depend on a construction schedule. For new-construction pricing, Miller & Smith's Beacon Park townhomes at Belmont Bay were advertised from $579,990 in late September 2026. Those homes are separate from the newly approved land bays.

What the Regional Numbers Add

A buyer is also negotiating in the market as it stands this fall. The REALTOR® Association of Prince William's September 2026 report shows the following for Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park combined:

• 1,172 active listings in September 2026, up 29.8% from September 2025
• A median sold price of $565,000, down 3.4% year over year
• A median of 30 days on market, five days longer than a year earlier
• 2.3 months of supply, up from 1.8 months in September 2025

These are regional figures, not Woodbridge-only figures. PWAR points out that a lower median can come from a change in which homes sold rather than from homes losing value. The direction is still useful. A North Woodbridge buyer this fall has more listings to compare and more time to decide than last year. That extra time is the chance to price a home on what is built today, with the road work and the open questions on Riverside Station factored in. The future town center belongs in the decision as upside, not as part of the price.

Sellers face the reverse. A home near Marina Way listed in spring 2027 would go on the market in the middle of the county's construction window. Buyers will see that, and the listing should account for it.

Quick Answers

Has Marina Way construction started? As of the county's September 2026 report, the contract award had been authorized and the county was waiting to issue the Notice to Proceed.

Will the extension connect directly to the VRE station? No. It runs from Annapolis Way to Route 123 at Horner Road. The separately funded pedestrian bridge is the planned direct link to the station.

Where does Belmont Bay fit in? It is approved as of June 2026 and is next to the area the town center plan covers. Our summer guide to Woodbridge weekends covers what is already open along the water, and the Woodbridge neighborhood page has a broader overview.

If you're weighing a home near Belmont Bay, Rivergate or the Woodbridge VRE, I can go through the construction calendar alongside the comparable sales so your offer reflects what's built today and what's still years out. Reach out to David D Kyle and let's connect.