1. Oppose the Outer Beltway in the Transition Area. Please act today.
2. Arcola-The Shops , retail development on Rt 50, public hearing Monday.

We apologize for the last minute notice on the Outer Beltway, but we just learned about this issue today. We hope you will take five minutes to submit your comments online by tomorrow, Saturday.

1. Oppose the Outer Beltway in the Transition Area

The region's Transportation Planning Board is revising their long range plan to include a piece of the Outer Beltway that would run right through the Transition Area. Public comments are due tomorrow (Saturday).

Our community soundly rejected development in this area last fall with the denial of 33,800 new houses. An Outer Beltway would make this land much easier to develop and funnel more commuter traffic onto our east-west roads like Route 50. Tell the Transportation Planning Board to fix our east-west commuter routes and local road grid instead.

Map and more information on the Outer Beltway in Eastern Loudoun

Tell the Transportation Planning Board:

1. An Outer Beltway by any name in Loudoun County would add traffic to Route 50 and other Loudoun commuting corridors. It would also open land to development where Loudoun County denied 33,800 new houses.
2. Oppose the addition of the Manassas Battlefield Bypass.
3. Remove the Tri-County Parkway from the long range plan.
4. Please fund improvements to the overburdened east-west commuting corridors.

The development industry has long pushed for an Outer Beltway, often called the Western Transportation Corridor (WTC).  This project is coming back under the names of the Tri-County Parkway and the Manassas Battlefield Bypass which would follow the same alignment as the WTC.

These roads would make it far easier to develop all of the land north of I-66 and west of Dulles Airport and would make traffic far worse on east-west commuter roads like Route 50, Route 7, and I-66. 

2. Arcola-The Shops Retail Development

On Monday, April 16, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on a proposal to rezone 80 acres in the Arcola area from commercial/industrial to regional retail (such as big box stores like Wal*Mart). This property is located west of Loudoun County Parkway between Evergreen Mills Road and Route 50. The county staff report has more information.

Ask the Planning Commission to:

1. Address the traffic problems posed by this development.
2. Look comprehensively at the three proposed developments for Arcola, rather than focusing on one at a time.

We are concerned about the addition of 20,000 daily car trips in the area of the Route 50 and Loudoun County Parkway intersection.  The county staff report says that "transportation improvements to Route 50 are inadequate to mitigate traffic impacts" and "regional road contributions are inadequate to mitigate traffic impacts."

The Planning Commission must address how this new traffic will impact current residents.  They should also ensure that this proposed development works with existing and previously planned retail in the Dulles Community.

This application is a good opportunity for the Dulles Community citizens to engage in planning for the future of their community and its town center.   If the Arcola site is to be the real town center of the Dulles Community, it needs to be designed from the beginning to attract high quality jobs. It also must achieve a balance of jobs, houses, and services called for by the county's Comprehensive Plan.

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Together, We're Fighting to Protect the Quality of Life in Loudoun

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