The Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission (RRRC), founded in 1973, is one of 21 Virginia Planning District Commissions. The Regional Commission is not a State Agency, but was established by its member governments through a charter agreement under Virginia law [1] as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The Regional Commission serves the governments, businesses, and citizens of the region. The Commission is sometimes referred to as Planning District Nine, but its official name is the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission.
The Commission's board is composed of 21 representatives appointed by its member local governments.
The commission promotes regional cooperation and provides support to member localities in transportation planning, environmental planning, housing, land use planning, comprehensive planning, GIS and economic development. As a State Data Center Affiliate, the commission also provides demographic data services.
Commission funding varies from year to year. Funding is obtained from multiple federal, state and local sources.
The commission also staffs several regional committees, including a Rural Transportation Technical committee, Foothills Area Mobility System (FAMS), Foothills Housing Network, Land Use and Environment committee and Regional Tourism committee. The Commission also provides staffing for Commuter Services, which provides ridematching services and carpool and vanpool information to area commuters.
Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Rappahannock County is a county located in the northern Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, US, adjacent to Shenandoah National Park. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 7,348. Its county seat is Washington. The name "Rappahannock" comes from the Algonquian word lappihanne, meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The county is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Orange County is a county located in the Central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,254. Its county seat is Orange. Orange County includes Montpelier, the 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) estate of James Madison, the 4th President of the United States and often known as the "Father of the Constitution". The county celebrated its 275th anniversary in 2009.
Madison County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,837. Its county seat is Madison.
Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culpeper.
Culpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia. The population was 20,062 at the 2020 census, up from 16,379 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County.
Orange is a town and the county seat of Orange County, Virginia. The population was 4,721 at the 2010 census, representing a 14.5% increase since the 2000 census. Orange is 28 miles (45 km) northeast of Charlottesville, 88 miles (142 km) southwest of Washington, D.C., and 4 miles (6 km) east of James Madison's plantation of Montpelier.
The town of Washington, Virginia, is a historic village located in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park. The entire town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, Washington Historic District. It is the county seat of Rappahannock County, Virginia.
Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. With 3,197,076 people according to the 2020 Census, it is the most populous region of Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Building in downtown Richmond. VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges, and tunnels in the commonwealth. It is overseen by the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which has the power to fund airports, seaports, rail, and public transportation.
The Rapidan River, flowing 88 miles (142 km) through north-central Virginia in the United States, is the largest tributary of the Rappahannock River. The two rivers converge just west of the city of Fredericksburg. The Rapidan River begins west of Doubletop Mountain in Shenandoah National Park where the Mill Prong meets the Laurel Prong at Rapidan Camp, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Big Meadows. The river defines the border of Orange County with Culpeper and Madison Counties.
The Bristoe campaign was a series of minor battles fought in Virginia during October and November 1863, in the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, began to maneuver in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Lee countered with a turning movement, which caused Meade to withdraw his army back toward Centreville. Lee struck at Bristoe Station on October 14, but suffered losses in two brigades and withdrew. As Meade followed south once again, the Union army smashed a Confederate defensive bridgehead at Rappahannock Station on November 7 and drove Lee back across the Rapidan River. Along with the infantry battles, the cavalry forces of the armies fought at Auburn on October 13, again at Auburn on October 14, and at Buckland Mills on October 19.
Virginia State Route 3 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia that extends from the town of Culpeper south and eastwardly to Gloucester in Virginia's Middle Peninsula region. For many years, a portion was named "Historyland Highway".
Area codes 540 and 826 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the north-western region of the U.S. State of Virginia, including the Shenandoah Valley, the Roanoke metropolitan area, the northern and eastern parts in Virginia of the New River Valley, and the outermost parts of the Washington metropolitan area. The Virginia State Corporation Commission authorized the addition of 826 to the numbering plan area for implementation in May 2022.
Sperryville is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the western section of Rappahannock County, Virginia, United States, near Shenandoah National Park. It consists of a village with two main streets along the two branches of the Thornton River, together with surrounding pasture- and farmland. The population as of the 2010 Census was 342.
Virginia's Planning District Commissions were formed in 1968 by the Virginia General Assembly. The enabling legislation for Planning District Commissions is known as the Regional Cooperation Act Planning Districts are comparable to Council of Governments that exist in other states.
The Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (RVARC, founded in 1969, is one of 21 Virginia Planning District Commissions. The Regional Commission is not a State Agency, but was established by its member governments through a charter agreement under Virginia law as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The Regional Commission serves the governments, businesses, and citizens of the region.
The Rapidan Dam Canal of the Rappahannock Navigation is a canal intended to safely carry Batteaus, sturdy flat-bottomed boats used primarily for transporting cargo, around the rapids at the confluence of the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. The Rapidan Canal, funded and constructed by The Rappahannock Company, consists of two different canals built at different times. All of the Rappahannock Navigation, of which the Rapidan Canal is a part, is located in the Piedmont region of Virginia. The Confluence, the name used on maps of the day and sometimes maps of today to denote where the two rivers meet, is located where the borders of the Virginia Counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford and Culpeper meet but is owned by the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Rapidan Canal was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) on June 19, 1973, and on the National Register of Historic Places on July 26, 1973.
The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria and Lynchburg. Most of the line was originally built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, with a small portion in the center opened in 1880 as the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad. Today, the line is mainly used for freight service, but Amtrak's Crescent, Cardinal and Northeast Regional passenger services use all or part of the line, and the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line commuter service uses the northernmost portion of the line.