Builders Offer to Fill Void On Roads

Traditionally, though, proffers have been directed more toward mitigating traffic problems expected to be created by the development in question. Increasingly, as public road spending has failed to keep pace with booming growth, developers have been making deals laced with even grander enticements that are meant to tackle long-term traffic puzzles that the county or state had intended to solve.

In Loudoun County, a few large home builders have been paying for much of the road network sprouting across Dulles South, a transitional area between the county's suburban and rural sections that developers are targeting for growth. Most recently, the developer Greenvest offered to spend up to $200 million on road improvements in the area, including a $20 million interchange sought by the county for the congested intersection of Routes 50 and 659. In exchange, Greenvest wants to build 15,000 homes in the area.

In the Prince William case, Brookfield Homes is offering to pay whatever cost remains to build an overpass to separate Route 29 from a rail crossing that causes frequent backups beside the I-66 interchange, widen a stretch of I-66 near Route 29 and overhaul the interchange.

The state has so far committed about $160 million in state and federal funds to the project, some of it reserved for several years from now. That's enough to start advertising later this year for contractors to do the widening and interchange, but not enough to proceed on the rail overpass.

The total price is estimated at $200 million, and it is increasing rapidly as land and construction costs rise. If Brookfield takes over the project, it will be responsible for any overruns and will have to do the work before it finishes building the homes. The company has met with state and federal transportation officials to discuss the rules it would have to follow to do work on a federal interstate, Morrison said.

Brookfield, which built the 3,115-home Braemar subdivision in Prince William, is also offering $50 million to extend a Virginia Railway Express line to Gainesville and build about $80 million in roads within and around the development. Dubbed Brentswood, the planned development would have 6,800 homes on 1,500 acres south of the interchange.

Brookfield executive Richard Dengler said the company's offer to do work left undone by the state is a sign of a larger shift in the way roads are being built in Virginia.

"This is a new day and a new time," he said. "There are major infrastructure needs, and to hold taxes down, the private sector needs to work with the government and get things done. It's out of the box, but we're willing to do it."

Some local officials are less impressed by the developers' largesse than others. Skeptics note that builders are paying for many of the improvements by establishing special tax districts within their developments, thereby passing on much of the cost to the new residents.

In Loudoun, Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York (I) argues that the county would be better off paying for new roads in Dulles South rather than engaging in a trade-off with developers, since new homes bring costs of their own. In Prince William, Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr. (R-Gainesville) sounded a similar note, arguing that rushing into a deal with Brookfield just to get the work done makes no sense because of the traffic the deal would bring.

"Folks say I've got to support this because [Brookfield] is going to get this project done, and I say, that may be the case, but what is the impact of 6,000 homes in that same vicinity going to be?" Stirrup said. "Are we really going to be mitigating the problem or just moving more cars at the same speed?"

Connaughton, the chairman, argues that if the county says no to Brookfield, then many of the homes will just wind up farther out, in Fauquier or Culpeper counties, sending as many commuters streaming through the bottleneck of I-66 and Route 29.

Still, he said, if it weren't for Brookfield's offer to overhaul the interchange, he'd be opposed to the proposal. "I personally would not even be looking at this development if it wasn't for the fact that this carrot is being hung out in front of us," he said. "Right now we're looking at gridlock turned into paralysis if something doesn't happen out there soon."