The Planning Commission wants to hear from you about proposed changes to our Countywide Transportation Plan (CTP). If you commute, pay taxes, and live in Loudoun County, we hope you will speak up at one of the seven public input sessions.

While we desperately need traffic solutions, the proposed changes to the CTP are not changes that will truly help Loudoun commuters. Based on the location of some proposed changes, developer proposals appear to have influenced the priorities in the draft CTP.

The proposed spot improvements would reduce our commutes by mere minutes while easily costing us billions -- yet no comprehensive cost analysis of the proposed changes has not been done. Is this the most effective use of our taxpayer dollars?

Ask the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to:

• Address our commuting problems with solutions that won't encourage more traffic and development
• Provide taxpayers with a cost estimate study of the proposed changes in compliance with the new VDOT policy
• Prioritize solutions based on a cost-benefit analysis. As taxpayers and commuters, we need the most bang for our buck when we tackle our commuting problems.
• Take a comprehensive look at our traffic problems and integrate any further development with meaningful multi-modal transportation solutions

Ask our elected officials to consider solutions including:

• Complete the Interchanges on Route 7 and Route 28.
• Improve local road connections so there are more options when traveling within each community. In Ashburn, for example, there are several missing segments of east-west roads including Gloucester Parkway, Riverside Parkway, Ryan Bypass, and Russell Branch Parkway.
• Prioritize east-west multi-modal commuter solutions and fix major corridors first.
• Make the needed safety upgrades to local roads.
• Say no to thousands of new houses that would overwhelm our roads.

We are concerned about several proposed changes to the CTP, including:

• Widening Route 9 to 4 lanes from West Virginia border to the proposed 4-lane toll road bypass near Hillsboro. (more information from Hillsboro area residents - PDF)
• Widening Route 15 North to 4 lanes and add a Lucketts bypass to extend to Leesburg; replace existing Point of Rocks bridge with a new one to the east. (more information from the Catoctin Coalition - PDF)
• Spot widening of several roads. Congestion is not solved when the road narrow. Example of this include:
  • Rt 7— 8 lanes from Rt 9 to 6 lanes at Leesburg Bypass
  • Rt 7— 8 lanes from Leesburg to Rt 28 to 4 lanes east of Rt 28 and into Fairfax County
  • Braddock Rd — various segments widened to 4 lanes
  • Rt 15 — 8 lanes from Leesburg to 2 lanes south of Rt 704
  • Church Rd — 8 lanes between Rt 28 and Cascades Pkwy, to 2 lanes in Sterling Park
  • Rt 659 — 8 lanes from Braddock Rd south to 4 lanes in Prince William County

The draft CTP raises many questions that should be answered in a public debate:

• Should the CTP include new roadways that favor out-of-county commuters at residents’ expense?
• Should Loudoun spend billions of dollars for temporary fixes to our traffic problems?
• Should the CTP be designed to facilitate developer plans for the future?
• Why doesn’t the county invest in non-road-building solutions that improve our daily lives?
• With limited transportation funds, why isn’t the county developing a cost-effective CTP?
• Why isn’t Loudoun integrating land use with transportation in the CTP like Fairfax?    

More Information
Draft countywide transportation plan   
Current countywide transportation plan
Washington Post article on the proposed Route 9 bypass

Public Input Sessions

Monday, August 27, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Farmwell Station Middle School
44281 Gloucester Pkwy, Ashburn

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Mercer Middle School
42149 Greenstone Drive, Aldie

Wednesday, August 29, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Lucketts Community Center
42361 Lucketts Road, Leesburg

Thursday, August 30, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Sterling Middle School
201 West Holly Avenue, Sterling

Thursday, September 6, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Mountain View Elementary School
36803 Allder School Rd, Purcellville

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Smart’s Mill Middle School
850 North King St, Leesburg

Thursday, September 20, 2007
7:00-9:00 PM
Blue Ridge Middle School
551 East A Street, Purcellville

Sincerely,

Rebecca Perring, Coalition for Smarter Growth
and
Ed Gorski, Piedmont Environmental Council
On behalf of the Campaign for Loudoun's Future

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

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