Future Developments around Broadlands

Lee, unfortunately anyone who assembles raw land or teardowns for a major PUD is caught between a rock and a hard place in Loudoun. There is the VDOT 20-year plan, which while bearing little resemblance to reality (particularly in funding!) still must be addressed, as well as the local plans. Add in that we are a by-right state, AND most importantly that the horses of the globally wealthy and the Washington power structure have lived here for over a century, and you have the pattern of blockage and deliberate attrition that has produced the current mess (which is fine with the folks who don't have to work or show a profit for a living).

How many roads can you think of that go from two lanes to dirt to four lanes with a median to a dead end and the pick up in the next district? The development community proffers what makes business sense for them in relation to the land they want to use (and if they want it bad enough to be squeezed good on stuff that should have been caught elsewhere, you get one of two things: A) what they used to call McMansions because the builder passed on the costs to the community, or B) what they used to call McMansions because nobody is going to put a $60K house on 12 3-acre by-right lots. And then, WHAT about affordable housing? Attrition is the name of the game).

All you have to do is follow the local formula of "head 'em off at the pass" to make a real cluster****, and you've acheived your aim (if you are a big-ticket no-growther): years worth of time to keep stalling on improvements.

To paraphrase the end of one of my favorite movies, "Forget it, Lee.....it's Loudoun."



Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

Thanks for the Broadlands map! The Moorefield station map is still outdated -- the plans have changed since then. Besides, they incorrectly identify the Brambleton Village Center as being on the sight of the new high school! Not sure I trust that map.

Those of us who bought houses in the neighborhoods that will have Claiborne Parkway and Loudoun County Parkway running through (or alongside) them were fully aware of that plan, since we were told that by the developers/builders from the onset. In fact, most of us welcome that connection, providing easier access to areas and more entrance/exit points from our neighborhoods. It probably won't be happening for MANY more years though...

 

First I am all for growth I make my living from that. I am most importantly for beautiful growth there is no smart growth happening in Loudoun at the moment. You people in South Riding are going to be grid locked in a few years, maimly because rt 50 has no viable plan to improve it, another lane will do almost nothing and more lights will only make things worse. The yet to be developed land will soon make your commute unbearable, which if you drive 50 it is already there. Barbara, with your attitude you are now part of the problem not the solution only to be reactive to a future problem not proactive to solve it before it happens as what I see many people are these days.

As far as MANY years for major roads that rip new neighborhoods well that is coming sooner then you think and just the noise from traffic will drive many nuts. For this to happen in area that starts with a clean slate shows we have a bunch of bozo's running this county not thinking about the big picture in a meaningful way in connecting all the development. Should be a crime. Yes I believe the horse people should stop all development until the people in this county can get their act together and make sure our elected officials can maintain growth in a healthy way. Again I am for beautiful growth. Smart growth is already a failure. I don't have drive in traffic only occasionally I become stupid and set up a meeting at 9am. Yesterday I had such a meeting in tyson's corner,and here is what I experienced which many of you do everyday and some even much further. I don't know how people can stand over an hour or much more commuting everyday.

(I had a 9 am meeting at Tyson’s yesterday morning and took over an hour to get there. Decided to take waxpool and it was backed up past the back of mci then finally turning right onto waxpool at the skating rink it was backed up to Loudoun county parkway then not bad to aol backed up getting on 28 backed up at sterling blvd. Then backed up on the toll road all the way to Tyson’s. Been a long time since I drove at rush hour and if I had to do it everyday well I just don't know how people do this everyday. I guess you can read a book while driving like I saw several people on the toll road this morning doing, I must of missed the safe driving class about reading a book while driving.)

I also checked out the sales on new homes in the new developments around here and they are going down down down to almost nothing recently. Main objection from what the sales people tell me prices are way to high. I think this is good news until this county gets it's act to gether and figures out how to advoid gridlock and affordable homes for the middle class around here which I put that salary at over 100,000 or more a year. That salary can not buy a 800,000 home without a large down payment, which translates one must sell existing home for huge amount to qualify and that house of cards is beginning to crumble which always happens when things get out of control like they are now.

Lee J Buividas

 

I absolutely agree with Lee on the traffic point. I think we are headed for disaster. I cannot fathom plopping down another 15,000 homes (the Greenvest/GMU proposal) in the middle of this area. We will soon reach 24 hour gridlock. I don't see a solution either. Even if Loudoun decided to build a superhighway to carry all the commuters, what would it connect to in Fairfax? Can we put another level on the Toll Road?

 

Lee, the 20 year plan had interchanges for all of 50, and the Comp Plan took all of them out in 03, and began "traffic calming". The Greenvest proposals include interchanges, which is always conveniently left out of the supposed traffic and proffer analysis in the propaganda.

The horse people (not the Mellons, duPonts, etc who don't actually live here year round) are fun to watch on rte 50, taking their horse on the 20-mile commute to wherever their playdate is today. I have a real problem with people who live on 5 ac in the far west, own three horses, pay for it all with a job in Crystal City, and b**** constantly about how difficult it is for them to drive around. If they hadn't pushed "smart" growth but had actually planned, we may have not only had better roads but less leapfrog. Nobody has it ALL all the time, and the real meaning of "Don't Fairfax Loudoun" to me (who grew up in McLean) is that if we continue to allow the selfish few to block the services, we will indeed end up like Fairfax, and are already well on the way.

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

You make a lot of good points. I consider myself very lucky since I commute from Ashburn to Silver Spring four times a week -- but since I've arranged my schedule so I don't start work until 10 am, the toll road is an easy drive. I usually get to work in 40 minutes, which is fine.

A friend in Middleburg travels to Tysons every day. It's almost a two-hour drive each way. I can't even begin to imagine that, but I'm afraid that is where we all will be headed soon -- all for the privledge of living in this great county!

 

The greenvest interchanges do nothing for traffic much beyond greenvest. where are the interchanges at south riding?? if they are ever built how long 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? they should of been built at the same time the first roads went in. even if they are built what about 50 thru fairfax. fairfax has done nothing to 7 yet, it is still in the planning engineering stage. how about 66 especially the 4 lane section into dc. still talk even if they start construction today widening that section will take 5 years or more it is a massive project and to do it right it needs to be 8 lanes total. which most of the bridges will have to be rebuilt. Massive construction project! Look at how look just a few of the interchanges on 28 are taking that are funded and still no decent interchange with 28 and 66 which includes the braddock road nightmare at 28 with still no solution in the works. what is that another 20 years. The center part of the dulles access road should be open to carpools during rush hour not the lane on the toll road. which many don't obey anyway and if you enforce it, that creares a worse nightmare, it is a no win situation as is.

I am pro growth if done right like I say I make a lot of money from it, at the same time I am a realist and we must solve the traffic now and not put bandaids on it. Wait till development in west virginia really kicks in and a lot of that traffic is coming to western loudoun right thru our area and loudoun is ignoring that like it will go away. how about that highway and bridge west virginia is building right now to the virginia border which is going to dump tons of traffic into loudoun on already overloaded roads in the western part of loudoun. I see no plans of any merit to deal with that. Drive down 9 during rush hour just past beacon hill it makes the drive on the toll road like a sunday drive.

We all need to be proactive and elect leaders in loudoun that will solve all this not whine and give lip service. The proposed interchanges on 7 do nothing for that bottleneck thru that shopping area on 7 right before the fairfax county parkway. Only bandaids are propoased for that section not many interchanges. Traffic calming on 50 is the worst solution I have ever seen not smart or beautiful. Those people with those small horse farms are are smarter then you think they see eastern loudoun can't even solve their own problems much less bring more of the same to western loundoun. How can you blame them when eastern loudoun is becoming the nations joke in dealing with growth!! Hey this county started with a clean slate in the eighties and has gone down hill since the first developments of the farms, the village, broadlands landsdown which are far superior to the new developments and what is being proposed today. evergreen road is in the beginning of the next nightmare where is the widening of that road while all the mega developments are going in. God help us when the head on collisions start muliplying in the next few years, especially if you lose a child or family member in one. That road will soon become the road of death, especially when there is a horrific accident involving one of the large trucks and splatters some family all over the place that is going to happen and unfortunately it probably will be sooner then later.

Lee J Buividas

 

Lee, I agree with most of what you say. I still have a problem with the "I've got mine" people, because they helped push it to Winchester and WVa, AND they are also driving through our neighborhood on their way to work, only slowing down long enough to say that WE should live closer to jobs.

Services always play catchup to rooftops to a certain degree--nobody is going to build a store in the middle of a cornfield, or bond a firehouse there either.

Funny story from the spring South Riding yard sale: PEC flaks were working the sale with screaming scare leaflets because the VDOT Tri-County Pkwy hearings were coming up. I got a flyer from each of two paid people. One said "22,000 houses on Rte 50! Rte 50 can't be expanded, it is being calmed! Fix Rte 28!" The other said "22,000 houses on the TriCounty Pkwy! Stealth outer beltway planned! Upgrade Rte 50!" The only thing they BOTH said was "Map prepared by PEC...Accuracy not guaranteed". Only true thing they've ever said!

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

Barbara I think we agree way more then disagree. I am certainly not a no growth advocate. I could care less how many homes are built in western Loudoun County as long as it can be handled. Hey what is wrong with a true parkway from West Virginia to connect with existing roads such as the greenway even if it is a toll road with as much visible development screened from it such as the George Washington parkway at least the way it goes along the river thru McLean and mount vernon. That is beautiful and smart thinking and done a zillion years ago. Maryland and Virginia need to get their act together and get a bridge over the Potomac, ideal would be extending rt 28 or somehow connecting 15 would be ok or near it while it they still can without spending a trillion dollars in the future. 15 a historical road would be no problem to widen it as designer historical road that carries traffic safely not a road of death. Just some creative thinking is all that is needed. All power lines should be put underground period not matter what. The western bypass could of been a designer road such as again a beautiful parkway with NO development near it.

There are ways to solve all problems for growth in a beautiful and smart way, but you need to use engineers and architects and designers and landscape architects that are talented in doing so and can think outside of the box.
If you stop growth until these kinds of things are implemented it will be amazing how creative developers and the the government officials can get and make this smart and beautiful thing happen. The people that live in this county need to make sure this happens with timelines etc. Houston is building all kinds of freeways toll roads and parkways not the best example of beautiful but it is happening. Southern California especially orange county as bad as traffic is it really is not as bad as here, there are new toll roads that actually look good , a designer freeway (5) by Disney land and they are cleaning things up little by little. They are not starting with a clean slate Houston and southern California yet they are correcting some wrongs from the past which we will not have as much correcting here if we do things right from the beginning at least here in Loudoun, we still have a lot of our slate still clean.

The interchange with 28 and waxpool is stupid what they did. All that they had to do was condemn part of the tart lumber yard and school which needs to move or be rebuilt anyway and I am sure it will be sold for something else in the near future. Well that very expensive ugly flyover bridge could of been eliminated and a real and simple cloverleaf could of been built probably for close to the same cost after the condemned land was paid for. That interchange ruins the look right there, just horrible. The business back there are dying anyway because of the way the interchange was designed. That is why we need creative thinkers when it comes to the design of our roads. Not the same old same old.

Lee J Buividas

 

You are SO right about that Waxpool/28 interchange! Do the planners honestly believe it is going to change things? All the traffic from that flyover and the other two exits onto Waxpool are going to back up at that first traffic light (even with attempting to separate the traffic from the ramps with the divider between the lanes). So all the ramps will be backed up all the way to 28, again. I read somewhere (I wish I could remember now) that this "new and improved" interchange was voted one of the worse designed plans in the area.

 

I second that. Route 28/Waxpool has to be one of the ugliest and confusing interchanges in the country! How can you have an interchange like that dump directly into a stoplight? Were any planners thinking about the AOL/Pacific Blvd/Waxpool intersection? It's almost like they didn't even consider that situation when designing the 28/Waxpool section. It blows my mind.

 

Guys, I wonder how much things changed between beginning to address the problem in theory, and turning dirt?

There were lots of delays along the way, including a big vote during the 99 BoS about whether to support its continuance. Meanwhile, growth went west, planned or not, and mostly unplanned (due to the same delays by the same people).

Then of course when it gets built (as planned years previously), the ones who did their best to have it not happen at all, and delayed or stopped planning elsewhere can point to it as something that never would have worked in the first place.

Attrition is a very effective policy for those whose aim is to have things stop. Since it can't be stopped altogether, why NOT screw it up so bad that a certain percentage will simply go away from it on the grounds that it isn't worth it?

Of course, with the ongoing growth, land is cheaper in WVa, etc...

The "oppose the stealth outer beltway crowd" were very vocal against rte 28 improvements until growth passed the 659 realignment easement. Then rte 28 was the prime choice for another river crossing (which they still don't support, except as a means to switch arguments. Remember the two flyers I got on the same day that were against east-west AND north-south?)

It IS better to plan before it starts getting built out. But we are a by-right state, and it can't be stopped completely until a plan is agreed upon. And there is a vested interest by some in demanding further dialogue and study until the prime moment has passed, because since they can't stop it completely, the next best thing is to screw it up for a new poster child when they draw the line a little closer to theirs, and start right back at the beginning in saying "no".

The VDOT 20 year plan should be the master doc, and it is in some ways. Why did the local BoS spend 4 years gutting it, and then encouraging unplanned growth that would make sure it stayed gutted? Shows a great record to Richmond when they're trying to decide whether to send our money back here, or build another thruway down near Botetourt.

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

I'm new to the broadlands area, i was driving through Loudoun Valley/Brambleton area on Lou. County Parkway/Ryan Rd and noticed a development with a street sign for Claiborne Parkway. Are they extending Clairborne from Broadlands to Ashburn. Also does anybody know how they are going to connect the Loudoun County Parkway at South Riding where it shares the road with 606 with the Loudoun County parkway in Ashburn. Opening Lou. County Parkway all the way to 50 to would really help commuting towards Fairfax/Chantilly areas.

 

Claiborne from Ryan Rd to Route 7 was always in the plan, trouble is, not all the developers actually proffered money to have it done, and now the residents of those developments just north of Ryan are doing a NIMBY for the road. However, Claiborne should be open from Broadlands South through to Landsdown by the end of the year.

As far as Loudoun County Parkway joining up anytime soon .. who knows

Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

Arsheth99, welcome to the forum, and as to your question...welcome to the difference between by-right and planned growth.

I once attended a presentation (4-5 years ago?) by the CTB on the Pkwy, and at that time they were considering a renaming when it was done to Rte 411 (the "information highway"!) pre-dot-com meltdown. Currently it just took a hit at the state level with the proposed alignment from Fairfax into Prince William. In the past week construction fencing has gone up on the portion south of 50 through South Riding (south of the area w/ Giant, etc.), so it appears they are getting ready to do the other two lanes w/in our community. However, with the VDOT snafu around Bull Run regional park (reffed as the "Comprehensive Plan alignment" in VDOT lingo--see recent articles in Post), I don't know what the prospects are south of us.

It is already functional through us and north of us, but has the school year backups again north of 50 in the a.m., I'm thinking from the rte 28 stuff north of the airport etc.

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

Currently, Toll Brothers is slated to build a portion of Loudoun County Parkway in its Loudoun Valley Estates II development. (I believe it was part of its proffers.) Brambleton is proposing an active adult community and as part of the rezoning application has proffered to build the last remaining unbuilt section of Loudoun County Parkway.

 

The map that shows locations of future developmemnt - with links to more information on that development is great. Thanks!

 

I was looking for the map that the adminstrator had put together of the different developments around Broadlands. The previous link did not work since the web site moved. I found it and here is the link:

http://www.broadlandshoa.org/maps/dev.html

In looking at the Ryan Park Centre site, I noticed that there is a Ledo Pizza coming, along with Applebees, Chipotle and Panera Bread!

Also, here is a link to the American Flatbread restaurant opening in Southern Walk (wood-fired pizza!):

http://www.americanflatbread.com/index.htm

And finally, a link to Bear Rock Cafe (also opening in Southern Walk):

http://www.bearrockcafe.com/

 

Yummy! I'm thrilled to see non-fast food joints in the area!!