Welp, we're screwed again

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...09/12/AR2007091201374.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Doesn't seem to matter what us locals say and do about this thing, the State Commission, who seems to be in bed with this Australian company, keeps jacking up the price to use this precious road. And the ever-impotent VDOT, who can't even read a map, will never provide us with an alternative.

 

Love the quote stating that the company can lower the toll at any time . . . yes, like when pigs fly!

 

This going to make waxpool even more entertaining.

Hmmm when are those other alternative roads going to be built to help waxpool by the greenway. Guess what nothing even in the works much less construction plans. There is not even a proposed close alternative to the Greenway on the south side by LCP.

I will leave my real comments off the board for the several next weeks how I really think about this and what is really going to happen to and on waxpool. Right now those comments are not very good for the many next years, but we will see. Oh wait everybody is wealthy here so raising the toll should be no problem. ha ha ha Going to be an interesting election and an even more interesting terms for whomever gets elected. Hopefully people get the point because the cashburn cow is about to be killed if the developers are not careful and the future politicians.

Instead of growth that did not and is not bringing the wonderful life we will see an exodus. Think housing prices can not drop much lower think again.

Lee j

 

May I present the Official TRIP II Theme Song:

 

if only we had a good way to get to old ox, we could bypass alot of the aol traffic at waxpool to get to 28. Seems a lot of good would come from just allowing a street from LCP on the other side of verizon to go into AOL. That way, the cars wouldn't back up for miles to make that right turn just to take the next right into aol.

 

you crack me up Kaos!! alow me to add a verse...

Beware all ye Suburbanites-
drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We have your booty in our sights
drink up me 'earties yo ho.

yer 'ard earned cash is ours, ya see
else sit in traffic misery-
yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me!

 

Maybe in 5 to 10 years. Because a lot of that area will be prisons buildings oop I mean flex and they build by right which means they don't build any roads, just junk that will fill our roads with more and more trucks. Ask Steven snow what by right means and what flex out of the zoo means. probably the same answer you get about broadlands open band. I will look into it which means lip service and the answer is can't do anything about it.

We need to rise up as a voting community about these things, don't forget most developers don't live here so they don't vote here only with their campaign dollars, which seems to count for a lot of influence more then your vote. Wait to we get more commercial next to residential and we will all we see how much screening really means. So far about nothing in Loudoun's screening is very effective by right it is actually more effective in Fairfax, so why the difference????/?

Lee j

 

This is one of the key elements the "Waxpool Task Force" will be looking at. Even if this group proves successful, my guess is that a road would still be several years away.

 

Well even if the Waxpool Task Force is successful, you still have to deal with 28. It was backed up to Waxpool before 7AM this morning - what a royal mess.

 

several gripes...

1.) Despite constituent opposition, the State Corporation Commission has rubber-stamped every single one of TRIP II's requests for toll hikes.

2.) The asymmetrical toll structure (rather than a strict mileage-based toll structure applied uniformly in both directions) is unfair, and it never should have been approved in the first place.

3.) Like others here have remarked, as tolls rise ever skyward, alternative routes just aren't materializing fast enough.

4.) Simply stated, the concept of a for-profit toll road -- especially where foreign ownership is involved -- is one that doesn't sit well with me. A break-even toll road would be acceptable, but I find particularly bothersome a scenario where rate hikes are sought for the purposes of profit and return on investment.

 

...and I do not have the law in front of me to check, but on WTOP this morning, I heard a comment that made me stop (almost) as I was driving, that (and I will paraphrase) - the original law is written such that, the toll increases on the Greenway (more or less) have to be approved because the company has to be able to make a profit.

In other words, the law was originally written to support the basic concept that the Greenway can raise tolls as much as is necessary because the law supports them getting a profit. This was the public/private partnership law originally written in the early 90s I think and it also the same law (in principle) that is being used to support the HOT lanes on the beltway. So, you could draw the same conclusion, that the HOT lane tolls will be set at whatever amounts support a profit for the company that is building them.

Something wrong with this basic concept, and the suggestion by our congressman was... maybe we should have the Greenway "condemned" and have the state take it over!

 

Hmmmm years I bet you, you are talking 5 to ten years away.

The roads that have the money are a minimum two years away and more and will not help the LCP to waxpool problem.

Gloucester and pacific are at least years away if we are lucky.

Personally I am starting to believe the waxpool task is nothing more then a political ploy for re-election. Unless you can get the mega developments started by the future metro along the greenway there is no money to improve this situation. Further the prison style flex buildings that are over crowding the zoo between aol and the dulles airport. Lets think about this we must get roads thru the zoo and most of it is by right. as we learned from the two prison zoo projects by me on waxpool these people don't give a darn about only themselves so no road improvements will happen from any of the by right prison zoo developers.

Back to waxpool the last meeting didn't include much of the public expect mostly developers and Cliff the real public imput has become a joke with this waxpool taskforce and it is business as usual.

Does not take a rocket scientist to know what needs to be done to make real improvements to waxpool.

Lets see this task force has been around since what april may when I attended the first one and was not invited or told about it again as well as my hoa that is directly affected by it. Yet we have people from the hinterlands invited hmmmmm.

So far all we have got was a slick presentation that to the average persons is a little to complex to to really understand. further what did this cost us taxpayers??? on something most will have a hard time to understand. personally as a person who has drawn thousands and thousands of plans. The genius is to make complex things simple to understand and read. A problem many engineers seem to have, hey any engineers out there you know what I mean.

God luck to you task force people but personally I doubt you will come up with anything that any of us will see a difference.

I will make it simple connection from loudoun county parkway to sterling blvd interchange from shellhorn. No turns as on the proposed transportation proposals further as few as making people make major turns from one rod to another in the area.

Second a connection from LCP to 606 as close as you can get on the south side of the greenway. needs to be a collector road to the greenway which there is non on the transportation right now. Cliff you so called connection is too far down to help much to the immediate area to the greenway. Yes my broken ribs are feeling much much better

Lee j

 

so what you are saying there really are no cost controls when they improve maintain or run the greenway. they can pass what ever costs they incur because they must eventually make a profit no matter. Man! no checks and balances here. I say let them go broke and let the state take over. or let the airport run it as they are going to run the lower dulles toll road. Certainly could not be worse then this.

Lee j

 

it IS amazing how much traffic is on Waxpool early in the am. I am usually on it around 5:45 am as well and wow - it moves along, but still a lot of traffic

 

Heck, they don't even have to pave a road to connect to old ox--just tear down the trees! I've been driving on Croson dirt for 3+ years now, so it won't matter to me to drive on dirt some place else!

 

Well better get something that floats as well

A bridge needs to be built over the flood plain and creek also at every connection. Not cheap to do!!! And the prison developers are certainly not going to pay for it Called "By Right" the two ugliest words in this county!!1

Get rid of by right and get real county planning and zoning so we can really keep development beautiful and traffic flowing.

Lee j

 

The next time you take a TRIP(II) on the greenway - count the number of firehydrants you see.

 

Hi, was just curious (since I have only lived in this area about 6 years) about any history of this Greenway? I am interested in the story and purpose of this road.

How/why was such a road allowed to be built in prime space (or did it come first?) bisecting the most densely poplulated areas of eastern Loudoun with very few alternatives? What a monopoly and a mess! Is it always suppose to be a toll road or will it ever be paid off or whatever? We very rarely use it but seems crazy that I need to pass by it once or sometimes twice to get most everywhere around here.
I do not recall that any other counties around here have such a road?

Thank you for the info and sorry for the ignorance.

 

The short story is it was here first before most development. Built by guess who ha ha ha they are the biggest contractor in Iraq. At least the Brown and root and mw kellog part. It was the first new private toll road in the country. A good idea gone very very bad.

Lee j