The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to designate a portion of Loudoun as a Northern Virginia North-South Corridor of Statewide Significance, or a COSS, last week.
The area involved in the COSS is the same route and land proposed in the past as the Outer Beltway and the Western Transportation Corridor – two designations that were at the center of controversy with Loudoun Board of Supervisors in an April 19 vote when they shot down the COSS designation.
The corridor includes land between Routes 28 and 15 and runs “river to river, Potomac to Potomac,” serving to connect Route 1 and Interstates 95, 495 and 66 with Dulles Airport.
A COSS, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, is “an integrated, multi-modal system of transportation facilities that connect major activity centers within and without the Commonwealth and promote the easy movement of people services and goods vital to the economic prosperity of the state.”
The Virginia General Assembly established the COSS in December 2009. Once a COSS is designated, localities must place the corridor in their Countywide Transportation Plans – a blueprint that guides road development for the next 30 years.
Loudoun supervisors removed a similar proposal, then called the Western Transportation Corridor or the Outer Beltway, from the Countywide Transportation Plan in 2001. They reaffirmed that decision in 2004 and again in 2010.
However, compared to past attempts to designate a corridor, this designation takes planning control over the land area away from localities and places it in state hands.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board’s decision to designate a COSS has been met with both support and disdain from local leaders and government officials.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance is all for the COSS, calling the designation “an historic and long-overdue step.”
The alliance contends that “the new corridor is not about a single roadway or solution but will consist of a range of multi-modal choices including the long-planned Bi-County and Tri-County Parkways as well as Virginia Railway Express, bus and other solutions,” it said in a statement.
“The proposed corridor has been the subject of 50 years of state, regional and local studies, each of which documented the need for and benefits of new multi-modal capacity/connectivity and have involved extensive public input,” according to the alliance.
The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce also supported the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s approval of the designation, saying the board recognized the need to connect Dulles Airport to passengers and markets in the South.
“This is an historic victory for the future prosperity and quality of life in Loudoun County and our Northern Virginia neighbors. The Corridor of Statewide Significance designation will allow state and local governments to properly plan for the multi-modal transportation improvements that are needed to serve Dulles Airport and to create new economic opportunities,” said Loudoun County Chamber President Tony Howard in a statement.
Howard said the designation does not guarantee any future transportation improvements and does not equate to an Outer Beltway or any new highway through Loudoun.
The Piedmont Environmental Council and the Coalition for Smarter Growth released a joint statement against the approval of the COSS.
“This 50-mile long highway, often referred to as the ‘Outer Beltway’ or ‘Western Transportation Corridor’, has been repeatedly rejected because it doesn’t relieve traffic on the Beltway, I-95, I-66 or local roads. In fact, it would make traffic worse by opening up thousands more acres to development and feeding more traffic from the west onto gridlocked east-west roads,” the organizations said in the statement.
The TriCounty Parkway, which is intended to be expanded into a longer Western Bypass, would not solve our traffic problems – it would actually make them worse, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“As a Loudoun resident, I’m deeply frustrated by the failure to address our east-west commuting problem and I don’t want to see attention and money diverted to a north-south outer beltway that will make our traffic worse, not better,” said Greg Jones of Loudoun Citizens for a County Transportation Plan.
The approval of the COSS comes just weeks after the Loudoun supervisors voted 6-1-2 to not support a request by the Commonwealth Transportation Board to designate a portion of the county on April 19.
“I call this one the zombie project. It has come up over and over and over again under different guises …” said Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) at the April 19 vote. “What’s scary about this one is the idea of taking away local control. That’s just wrong.”
“It is clear that this is the Outer Beltway, including $1.4 to $2.4 billion estimated for an additional crossing of the Potomac,” said Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge), who initiated the request to oppose the designation April 19. “Our transportation plan, in my opinion, has sufficient road network to serve Dulles Airport north and south. Our problems are east and west primarily …”
“This was called the Outer Beltway before and it’s still the Outer Beltway. I don’t care how you try to slide it in there. The only way you get this passed and it not be called the Outer Beltway is to never mention the Potomac River and I think that one has been tried too,” said Supervisor Sally Kurtz (D-Catoctin) at the April 19 vote.
County staff also asked the board to reject the designation, saying it would simply shift traffic from Prince William County onto already congested Routes 50 and 7. In addition, they said the designation would introduce the possibility of urban sprawl that often is induced by new major roads and the separation of communities by a freeway.
Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) the lone board member who voted for the COSS on April 19, said the roads will be needed in the future to control Loudoun’s booming population and economic growth that comes with Dulles Airport.
“I don’t think I should be voting no to a plan to figure out how to get people around,” Delgaudio said.
“primarily agricultural community”—
Hmm, this fellow doesn’t know or realize that a huge chunk of the internet (a very NON-agricultural product, maybe you’ve heard of it) girgles through Loudoun (Ashburn specifically) 24/7. Or that the majority of your credit card transactions do the same. And that there are several national R&D companies based in Eastern Loudoun. Or that health care and education are about the top employers, not farming (nor agri-tainment, which is the “new” rural economy, wholly fed by suburban/urban visitors, NOT so much on a physical product ala corn, wine, etc.).
What the county needs to get over is this rural agricultural myth, and acknowledge it is at the epicenter of the nation’s capital and growth will occur so long as things out of little Loudoun’s control continue as they have (immigration = US population growth, technology advances, Fed Govt. spending).
It is very disturbing to see control over growth and roadways in loudoun county move up to the state level. We don’t need more roads or highways in loudoun. We need traffic calming measures to protect the history, character and economy of this primarily agricultural community. This new designation as a COSS will result in new roads that will encourage growth and more traffic. We need to stop paving over the county!
Please check out my response to the designation of a COSS at my website at www.tom4loudoun.com
This designation will create new challenges for both the airport and residents of Loudoun County
That bridge, and additional road, have been neededfor well over twenty years. They been in the plans for over twenty years. 15 has been designated as a byway for longer than that. The bridge was and has always been between 15 and the Beltway. The maps for Montgomery County from the 1990s show the planning for the bridge and road crossing from 28 to 270.
Put the road and bridge where the most traffic will use them - and keep the traffic out of western Loudoun.
Widen Route 15 now before it becomes a complete traffic jam you morons! And take out that traffic light at Whites Ferry!!!
More trees came down where Gum Spring Road attaches to Rt. 50. It appears that the initial paving is going to equate to 4 lanes from Rt. 50 all the way to the Prince William County Line where work on the widening started a month ago. There is a clear mound of dirt which looks like the makings of a highway exit wraping around and lining up with Gum Spring Road at the approximate location where Prince William County Parkway would be extended into Loudoun County. Based on the timing of the work on the South end of Gum Spring Road, it appears that the designation of the corridor as a COSS by the CTB was/is only a rubber stamping of what they were going to do anyway. If not, why start construction before the decission was made? Additionally, it is mentioned that this road is being designated for business purposes for airport traffic. Make no mistake, this is commuter traffic that is being dumped off of Rt. 66 onto Rt. 50 and Rt. 606 which will make already very congested roads much worse. Rt. 50 was scheduled to have funds available this year to alleviate congestion. Reports have indicated that State transportation officials were overheard joking around about how the funds in the transportation plan would be redirected to be used for this parkway. If Rt. 50 is not widened as was scheduled, residents from Brambleton, South Riding, Stone Ridge and Kirkpatrick farms will remain jammed in very congested roads that will only get worse with this move. Traffic patterns currently are coming from Prince William County in the morning and going back at night. The opposite flow is uncongested. Remember that your current State Representatives were the ones that implemented this plan despite local objections. Almost everyone who lives in the Dulles South area knows that Rt. 606 and Rt. 50 are horrendous during rush hour. It is unbelievable that State officials that began thier political carreers in Prince William County conspired with recently elected Loudoun County State officials to shove this project down our throat. I can only hope that retribution is granted to these beligerant officials in the next election. We need transportation solutions in Loudoun County that serve the needs of Loudoun County, don’t require us to pay extra through tolls or special tax districts, and improve the quality of life for those of us who live here.
Another bit of proof that McDonnell is the WORST governor this state has ever had…what a complete moron
Make your own comments, Zenith.
No thanks. Spend my tax dollars on projects that will benefit commuters, not people passing through, which means East-West roads. Heck, buy the damn Greenway using that “Outer Beltway” money.
This is fantastic news! Loudoun has a serious lack of 4-lane north-south roads. I hope they start construction on this long overdue road tomorrow.
Thanks, Barb, for taking an opportunity to use this articles forum as a pulpit for your bully war against groups you oppose. This is an article about this road, I know you have some opinion about it that doesn’t involve PEC or their operatives, come on!
Washington Western Bypass or Western Transportation Corridor
Myths and Realities
Myth #1
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor is needed as a bypass of Washington, to relieve through traffic on I-95.
Reality
Maryland and Virginia dropped the proposed bypass in 1989 after a draft Environmental Impact Study concluded that it would not relieve traffic on the beltway, it would in fact cause increased east-west traffic, and at $1.5 billion it would be too expensive. Maryland has steadfastly declined to participate with Virginia in the renewed study, which was initiated by Governor Allen in 1994 at the urging of Northern Virginia developers.
Myth #2
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will relieve traffic congestion on the beltway and ease commuting.
Reality
VDOT’s 1997 Major Investment Study (MIS) found that traffic on I-95 would decrease a minimal amount of 4.8%. On I-66 it would decrease about 1% west of Rt. 28. It will cause an INCREASE on other major roads such as Rt. 50 west of Rt. 606 (22.7%), Rt. 15 north of Leesburg (21.8%) and Rt. 7 west of Rt. 659 (10.7%). VDOT did no analysis of the highway on Rt. 28 or other roads east of Rt. 28.
Myth #3
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor is needed as a north-south connector road between Loudoun and Stafford.
Reality
The MIS shows that only 3,000 (one way) trips per day will be made the entire length of the highway, between I-95 and Rt. 7, in the year 2020. This means that most of the trips will be short. The maximum one-way volume on any segment will be 47,000 vehicles per day. Recently-built north-south roads include the Fairfax County Parkway, the Prince William Parkway, the widening of Rt. 28 in Fairfax and Loudoun, and the Rt. 234 bypass. Also on the books are completing overpasses for Rt. 28, as well as the Tri-County Connector in Fairfax and Prince William and the Loudoun County Parkway, just west of Dulles.
Myth #4
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will be a limited access parkway and thus have very little effect on surrounding land use.
Reality
According to the MIS, the Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will have eight interchanges over its 50 mile length, or one every 5 – 10 miles: Rt. 7, Dulles Greenway, Rt. 50, Rt. 234 bypass, I-66, Rt. 28 (near Prince William/Fauquier border), Rt. 606 (near Stafford/Fauquier border), and I-95. Experience tells us that the preferred development location is at highway interchanges, and that zoning is easily changed to accommodate such development. New highways channel growth – and they will channel it away from more developed areas further into the countryside.
Myth #5
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will be an environmentally-benign limited access parkway.
Reality
An Environmental Protection Agency analysis of the MIS concluded that a new highway “has the potential to directly impact up to ten times the wetlands area, cross ten times the flood plain area, increase the potential for threatened and endangered plant impacts by 2.5 times, and potentially threaten the Lake Manassas public water supply” when compared to other, less costly, alternatives. The National Park Service expressed concern about the highway’s effect on the Manassas National Battlefield Park as well as on the Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg National Military Parks.
Myth #6
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will decrease traffic on historic Rt. 15.
Reality
Because the Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor ends at Rt. 7, it is projected to increase traffic on Rt. 15 north of Leesburg by 21.8%. Even if it should cross the river, which now appears remote, induced traffic and more development would most likely keep Rt. 15 traffic high.
Myth #7
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor will have little effect on Fauquier and Stafford counties because it will go through the Quantico Marine Corps Base.
Reality
The Marine Corps’s position is: “Marine Corps Base, Quantico, opposes use of base land for the Western Transportation Corridor … MCB, Quantico cannot support the conversion of finite training resources to non-military purposes.”
Myth #8
The Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor is necessary for Dulles Airport, to provide better access for freight truck traffic from I-95 and better access for workers from the west.
Reality
If 15% of the 3,000 daily through-trips in 2020 are trucks, and one-half of those go to Dulles, that would be 225 trucks a day, or roughly one per hour. Hardly sufficient justification to build a billion dollar highway. Access from the west is provided by Rt. 7, I-66, the Dulles Greenway. A 4-mile access road would have to be built from the Washington Western Bypass/Western Transportation Corridor, and unless it tunneled under the runways, traffic would still have to be routed around to the east entrance of the airport.
Myth #9
This highway has been on the books for 40 years, and it’s high time we built it.
Reality
Studies have consistently shown that this highway will not relieve current or future traffic congestion, but that it will cause increased congestion on other major roads. Why should we cling to an outmoded plan from the Eisenhower era?
Edward P. Gorski
Loudoun Land Use Officer
Piedmont Environmental Council
Damn ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS! They always cause these types of problems. Get them off the road and half of our traffic problems go away. Camel jockeys.
Build the road, but with one exception. No Exits are Allowed to be built beyond where you get on and get off the road. That’ll keep sprawl at bay.
“Our problems are east and west primarily …”
Why does the traffic all go east-west? Because there aren’t any river crossings to go north-south. Duh….
The TCP is being lobbied by those that wanted a development corridor (as opposed to a transportation corridor). At a cost of over $800M, it seems like limited transportation resources in Northern Virgina would be better off spent on improving east-west traffic issues or any other items on the long list of needed improvements identified in the CTP. And diverting traffic from I-95 near the historical Battlefield, through the transition area, onto Highway 50/Waxpool Road/Highway 7, and into Loudoun County suburbs is not a good solution for anyone…other than the developers that pay the Northern Virgina Transportation Alliance to lobby on their behalf.
The points to remember here are:
1) this is a north south route in an area plagued by overcrowding going east-west. It doesn’t help our transportation and likely will make it worse. Bad idea!
2) this is a taking away and overruling of local planning authority by the state. Big Brother!
3) this is a diversion of scarce transportation resources away from projects we want and need. Waste of money!
4) this planned road ends up 3 miles WEST of Dulles airport - nowhere near the entrance, businesses or anywhere useful. Boondoggle!
4) It is clearly an attempt to push new development into the transition area west of the airport for the benefit of several large property developers - not an attempt to aid us in our transportation problems. Payoff to special interests?
I agree that it is past time to get the road network in sync with the growth that has occurred.
I’m glad the COSS was designated as such.
The reason it got to this state was because of PEC and their affiliates, which lobbied for years to remove roads while growth was ongoing.
Those opposing the COSS in this article are affiliated with PEC.
And that’s just a fact, whether you’d like to admit it or not.
Thanks, Barb, for taking an opportunity to use this articles forum as a pulpit for your bully war against groups you oppose. This is an article about this road, I know you have some opinion about it that doesn’t involve PEC or their operatives, come on!
ummm, the Coalition for Smarter Growth IS the Piedmont Environmental Council.
The director has been claimed for years as an employee on the PEC’s tax forms (most recently as James S. Schwartz, which he used to be credited as long ago, before he was briefly spelled “Steward Schwartz” in some publications), and for a while there on the Coalition for Smarter Growth website, if you clicked the “donate” link, it said “please make checks payable to the Piedmont Environmental Council”.
Then for a while it had a small explanation, like the Campaign for Loudoun’s Future which Ms. McGimsey was paid to develop and run by the PEC, that the PEC simply “did their bookkeeping for them”. Now it appears to be plain old PayPal.
I guess PEC DID “do their bookkeeping”, if they were claiming both Mr. Schwartz and Ms. McGimsey on their tax forms!
The toll road connects 495/66 to Dulles Airport. Route 15 is a single lane MAJOR route heavily traveled north/south. Route 15 has for the most part land on both sides of the road and could bypass Lucketts and tie into Maryland’s 340. This is where to put the road. It could tie into the toll road at Leesburg beltway and thus to Dulles Airport.
“Our transportation plan, in my opinion, has sufficient road network to serve Dulles Airport north and south. Our problems are east and west primarily …”
Yes, Jim, keep thinking and believeing that the world exists of just Loudoun County, that the earth falls away when you cross the border, that no one else exists but Loco residents…
Little fiefdom, you are the bedroom w/ one major money maker, yet you want to think you can keep it for yourself. Silly. Get w/ the program and take a seat at the big boy table with the region. Don’t just cry and run home.
Oh, Eugene!
First you support a plan to strip property owners of their property; then (thankfully) you pull away from that position at the last second.
And now you support the creation of a disgusting roadway that will leave cars barreling through and near neighborhoods at breakneck speed.
Will you ever learn that you’re supposed to act in the best interests of people who live in Loudoun County, and not the state, developers, businesses, or anyone else?
If we slow down the unnecessary and unwanted growth, then perhaps we can take the time to develop a cohesive, well-thought-out plan that won’t wreak havoc on the County.
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