Loudoun County adopts revised transportation plan

After years of wrangling, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday, 5 to 4, to approve a revised countywide transportation plan.

"It's been a long, long haul," said board Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large), who voted against the plan. Other supervisors who opposed it were Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) and Susan Klimek Buckley (D-Sugarland Run).

The plan attempts to address the county's transportation needs for the next 20 years. It includes recommendations for road improvement priorities, bicycle and pedestrian facilities along major roads and the introduction of Metrorail service.

Among the county's transportation improvement priorities are: construction of Northstar Boulevard from Creighton Road southbound to Tall Cedars Parkway; expansion of Belmont Ridge Road to four lanes, from Route 7 to Ryan Road; and the expansion of Old Ox Road from two lanes up to an eight-lane freeway around Dulles Airport.

The three Metrorail stations included in the plan will be at Dulles Airport and along the Dulles Greenway at routes 606 and 772.

Of the county's 35 designated primary roads, which are owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, about 14 have the capacity to add more, according to the plan.

Some of the roads capable of adding lanes include the Dulles Greenway, which could expand from six to eight lanes; Sully Road from the Fairfax County line north to Old Ox Road, which could expand from six to 10 lanes; and segments of Harry Byrd Highway, west of Leesburg, that could expand from four lanes to six or eight.

Critics said the plan takes away too many options from the road network and is based on a flawed model of examining future road capacity.

Lucinda Gibson, a transportation consultant, said creating smaller parallel roads and designing better intersections could ease traffic congestion.

"There's lots of opportunities for broader choices than have been considered in the county's transportation plan," she said.

Buckley, the board vice chairman, said limiting transportation options could have a negative impact on the county's economic growth and affect the quality of life. By retaining those options, Loudoun would be in the best possible position for growth, she said.

Some of the recommendations that were excluded from the plan included growth that could have taken place in the western, northern and southern areas of the county.

A segment of Charles Town Pike -- from Clarkes Gap Road to Harry Byrd Highway -- was to expand from two to four lanes. But the Transportation and Land Use Committee, a five-member panel headed by Supervisor Kelly Burk (D-Leesburg), rejected the recommendation for expansion and removed it from the final draft.

Ralph Bouna, a vice president at Telos Corp. in Ashburn, said some employees at his company are West Virginia residents and have a difficult time traveling on Charles Town Pike to work.

"Their commute is a nightmare right now," he said. "Never mind 2030."

A proposed segment to connect Riverside Parkway from Ashburn Village Boulevard to Loudoun County Parkway was also removed from the plan. The segment would have created a maximum six-lane alternative parallel route just north of Harry Bryd Highway.

Dozens of residents and business leaders attended a public input session Monday and voiced support for expanded transportation options, but many said they were concerned about the reduction of lanes and removal of some roads.

"Loudoun's roads are already dysfunctionally congested, and that's just based on the growth we've experienced so far," resident Tom Simmons said at the hearing.

According to the Loudoun Economic Development Commission, the county could add more than 68,000 employees within 10 years. More than 116,000 could be added by 2030.

But commission member Tadeuz Lewis said the county -- with its airports, trails, pending rail services and road network -- has valuable resources that could offset future traffic concerns.

"Our ability to integrate those transportation assets with our existing roadway network is really going to be what's going to make the future of Loudoun County," he said.

Before the final vote, Delgaudio and Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) tried to introduce additional amendments to increase the number of lanes on the segment, but both motions were defeated.

"It is a crazy, crazy collection of opinions that are basically head-on collisions with reality," Delgaudio said.