In Crowded Loudoun, Avoiding Traffic Means Endurin

If traffic is this bad now in Dulles south, what will it be like
after 25,000+ new homes are built there as proposed?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600918.html

Great quote:
"One would have thought that the government would have given some thought to the infrastructure before all these communities mushroomed," said Joyce Msuya, 37, who lives in Cedar Hunt and commutes to the World Bank in Washington...

If Toll and the others did not provide sufficient improvements when
they built South Riding and the other Rt. 50 communities, why would
anyone think that the new developer proposals will make things
better instead of worse?

I hear Rt. 50 and 606 are both a nightmare during rush hour with
current traffic loads.

All this development in being pushed because supporters complain
about a lack of services. Trading congestion and poor quality of
life for more services seems like bad deal to me.

 

Skins, Toll didn't build all of Rte 50--in fact, Trafalgar rezoned (91? 93? which is where the proffers and the triggers came from) and began South Riding (95), selling it to Toll in 99. Toll has had to go to court (along with the county) to get the easement for the intersection of Braddock and Gum Spring so they can finish paving the road and put in the signal, which is a responsibility they took on after they bought the original development. IOW, addressing a problem that is not on the existing rezoning they purchased, but which affects it, and vice versa.

The BoS just apportioned part of the fund balance to engineer the 606/50 interchange (with determination of whether it will be cloverleaf, full cloverleaf etc), and the airport has come to the table on that (finally, and about damn time since they own the land on BOTH sides of existing 606), so action has finally begun. Yes, there is traffic. There has been for some time. Years of blocking road improvements really helped, too.

I believe Cedar Hunt is a by-right, which has only been occupied for about a year or so, which explains the million dollar homes on large lots on a dirt road (with a little piece of pavement in front of the entrance. Said little piece of pavement used by those blasting west in their LUVs to their bigger sprawl lots to pass people not going 55 on the dirt portion of the road). By right in a suburban area is one big duh, even if the houses are gorgeous in and of themselves.

The bigger duh, which is never addressed by the supposed non-profits promoting by-right instead of planning the remaining growth that is still coming, is why someone moves to a million dollar home on a dirt road 25 or 30 miles from their job, and then immediately starts b****ing about having a long drive on a dirt road to get to work.

By right is unplanned--zoning is not planning, because it makes no provision for road improvements, services or amenities. It only addresses general usage and base density. It adds to impact, even more in the hidden cost of the fact that it uses up land in true sprawl.

I really think that since the growth is ongoing, we really better PLAN.

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.

 

From the Loudoun Times
Lee J Buividas


Southern Loudoun roads could see more traffic
By Jana Renn
01/03/2006
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) has taken issue with two major projects that could bring significantly more traffic to southern Loudoun County.

The two projects are the Salamander Inn and Resort, to be built in or near Middleburg, and the Dulles South development, which if passed could bring 27,977 homes to the area north and south of U.S. 50 between U.S. 15 and Route 659.
The PEC’s concerns with Salamander have lessened somewhat in light of the proposal to change the inn’s location from the forested area approved by the Board of Supervisors to a spot closer to Middleburg. However, the PEC is still dead set in its opposition to Dulles South. According to Mike DeHart, information technology specialist for the PEC, the new proposed spot for Salamander, while favorable, is not without concerns.

“We're concerned about the details of what will happen with the developable areas where the inn was originally proposed,” he said.

On the other hand, the Dulles South parcel has been at somewhat of a standstill at the Loudoun County Planning Commission level after its Oct. 3 public hearing, where it met with strong opposition.

According to Bob Lazaro, PEC's director of communications, the county transportation staff has determined that the proposed projects along U.S. 50 would turn the grade level of transportation service from its current C or D level to an F or F-minus level.

“It would just take a bad situation and make it worse,” Lazaro said. “You can't tax and pave your way out of Loudoun's transportation issues, and you can't develop and pave your way out.”

The Middleburg Town Council will hold a public hearing on the movement of Salamander at its Jan. 12, 7:30 p.m., meeting. There is no timetable on when the Planning Commission will next address Dulles South

 

The Times-Mirror runs a PEC press release as if it were news? You're kidding!

(sarcasm off)

Did you get the Dulles South PEC holiday update, where they begged for $50K by 12/31 (just make checks out to PEC! AND it's tax deductible too!), so they could continue their "mission" of "delaying and ultimately denying" the Dulles South planning proposals?

Golly, I thought they were all about an open and inclusive process to acheive the BEST planning for ALL citizens! (oops, sarcasm back on! sorry!)

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.