The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has endorsed a $29 million agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation that funds modest road improvements over six years but falls far short of what supervisors said would be necessary to ease snarled traffic.
The plan, approved unanimously at Tuesday's board meeting, puts money toward widening Waxpool Road in Ashburn, building Sycolin Road east of Leesburg and paving a gravel stretch of Mount Gilead Road in western Loudoun, among other projects. The plan provides $5.69 million for fiscal 2006, the first in the six-year effort.
Supervisor Lori L. Waters (R-Broad Run) accused state leaders in Richmond of shortchanging the nation's fastest-growing county.
"This is pathetic. I'm just . . . irritated and frustrated beyond belief at the state," she said. "Everybody's seeking relief in traffic, yet VDOT's sending us $5.69 million in one year."
Waters said many roads elsewhere in the state have been "paid for out of our money because it gets sent down south. We've got a lot of needs up here."
Board Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) said that Northern Virginia was billions of dollars behind in needed transportation improvements. "We have too long been ignored by Richmond," York said.
Supervisors also approved a proposal to spend $749,000 of the county's own transportation dollars to help meet a funding shortfall in the public-private effort to build six interchanges along Route 28. County officials said increased right-of-way and utility-relocation costs would have delayed for a decade the design and construction of parts of a planned interchange at Sterling Boulevard. A public hearing on the Route 28 transfer is scheduled for March 8, before a final vote.
The interchanges are part of a project, originally slated to cost $200 million, to replace six of the 10 traffic lights that cause bottlenecks between Interstate 66 and Route 7. Business and commercial property owners in the Route 28 area are paying more than $130 million toward the project through a special tax, and VDOT is covering much of the rest. Three have opened so far. Construction on the Sterling Boulevard interchange was scheduled to start this summer.
At a meeting dominated by debate on transportation funding, Supervisor D.M. "Mick" Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run) touted an effort, launched with Del. Richard H. "Dick" Black (R-Loudoun), his father-in-law, to give localities the authority to issue tax rebates to homeowners. Staton's effort comes as supervisors continue hashing out their budget priorities and their approach to government services and tax rates.
"Every year we're budgeting for a significant surplus," Staton said, adding that he was moved to seek legislative action in Richmond when he learned during recent budget discussions that rebates were not possible. "I'd rather have a lower tax rate and not have these huge annual surpluses. But if we're going to have surpluses, I'd rather be able to give it back to the homeowners."
Supervisor Jim G. Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said that having the ability to give rebates would be fine but that the real question was one of priorities and funding demands as government officials seek to keep up with the county's swift population growth. He called the legislative effort "grandstanding."
"We should have the option," said Supervisor Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac). But, he added, using that option would depend on the financial circumstances.
