Creekside's Generous Plan
As the fastest-growing county in the nation, Loudoun is desperately trying to keep pace with schools, roads and parks. Even with the new actions by the Board of Supervisors to front-load infrastructure, there are just not enough resources.
The General Assembly recognized this when it adopted the Public Private Transportation Act in 1988 to spur innovative thinking and financing to build roads. Local jurisdictions have followed suit. A high school was constructed in Fairfax County and a road is being constructed in Prince William County through local public-private partnerships, not through state partnerships.
Creekside LLC is proposing this same innovative approach for Loudoun. Our proposal for the Creekside community would provide a 300-plus-acre regional park with lights and irrigation for the ballfields, and the park would be built ahead of the schedule set by the county.
We would also provide much of the unfunded, or inadequately funded, road network set forth in the county's priority transportation plan and the town of Leesburg's transportation plan. In addition, Creekside would dedicate land to the county for two schools.
Our approach would help make up for the shortfall of funding for the county's badly needed roads, and we will build them years ahead of schedule. The financial woes of transportation funding are well documented. The funding status quo is not working for Loudoun residents, and doing nothing about it is not a solution. The Creekside proposal offers Loudoun residents transportation improvements that go significantly beyond the needs of our proposal.
The Creekside proposal, through the PPTA process, would construct several roads, including a three-mile, four-lane divided road between Route 7 and the Dulles Greenway; an interchange at Route 7; the remaining portions of Battlefield Parkway in Leesburg from Sycolyn Road to Edwards Ferry Road (about two miles); four lanes of Sycolyn Road, from the Route 15 Bypass past Leesburg Executive Airport (about two miles) and on to Belmont Ridge Road, which would be upgraded from a gravel road to a two-mile, two-lane paved road; and a four-lane Crosstrail Boulevard, from Route 7 to the Dulles Greenway, connecting the River Creek and Potomac Station neighborhoods to the Dulles Greenway (about three miles).
Additionally, Creekside would build the county's 300-acre Philip A. Bolen Park on a better piece of property along Goose Creek, with both phases of the park being built upfront and with private dollars. We would do this sooner than the county, whose plans for the park are split into two phases. The county does not even have enough funding to construct the first phase, at least not without eliminating the lights and irrigation for the ballfields. With the Creekside proposal, the unused approved bonds, about $14.5 million, could be refunded to taxpayers.
We are proud of our proposal to bring some regional roads and amenities to Loudoun. However, before we start the rezoning process, we must ask for the county's permission to replan its property, which we did at a Board of Supervisors public hearing in December.
Public hearings will be held before the Board of Supervisors for both the PPTA and rezoning efforts before a final decision is made. The county has nothing to lose, but a lot to gain, in a new regional park, two new schools and major transportation improvements.
Laurie A. Shultz
Director
Creekside LLC
