The Connection

The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) has greenlighted a plan to build a controversial roundabout to improve traffic flow at the Braddock/Pleasant Valley roads intersection by Cox Farms in Centreville.

Last Wednesday, June 18, the CTB awarded a $4.178 million contract to Fort Myer Construction Corp. to do the work. Furthermore, VDOT revealed it had found surplus money to complete the necessary funding for the project whose cost has escalated from its originally anticipated $2.6 million to $5.82 million.

The additional funds came from mainly federal, plus some state, surplus Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) money available from two previously completed projects. And while the news has two Loudoun County politicians reveling in joy, many Fairfax County residents are angry, bitter and vowing a fight.

“We are obviously disappointed by the VDOT and CTB decision to allocate additional funds and to award the construction contract and, frankly, feel that the decision defies logic,” said Virginia Run’s Ted Troscianecki. “The cost has doubled since initial estimates and now exceeds the original estimate for a signalized intersection which — according to VDOT's own data — is a more permanent solution.”

Also upsetting to him and others who oppose the roundabout is that only the draft of VDOT’s Six-Year Plan was available online and at public hearings. So, said Troscianecki, the public wasn’t aware that the roundabout would really cost $5.8 million, instead of the $4 million shown on the draft, when each county voted on VDOT’s Six-Year Plan.

“Officials have continued to ignore the fact that the majority of homeowners in Western Fairfax oppose the project and, instead, point to misleading claims that it has support,” he said. “It remains clear to us that this has been a politically motivated project with the intent to proceed at any cost and is a gross misuse of taxpayer funds.”

Near the Fairfax/Loudoun border, the Braddock/Pleasant Valley roads intersection regularly backs up at rush hour. So, at Loudoun’s urging, VDOT will construct a 105-foot circle there to move vehicles through more quickly.

The project’s funded by a combination of Loudoun, state and federal money. And it seems to be going forward over the objections of thousands of Centreville residents living in nearby communities.

Those in homes along Braddock and Pleasant Valley roads say they won’t be able to get out of their streets due to the steady stream of Loudoun drivers on both roads. They say a roundabout would dramatically favor Loudoun residents, to the detriment of Fairfax drivers.

However, Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) says other Sully District residents have wanted that intersection fixed for years. “At some point, you’ve got to build roads,” he said. “More traffic’s going to come on Braddock, no matter what — Loudoun County development plans call for it.”

Nonetheless, many local residents have a slew of concerns. “Just east of Braddock Road is the notorious S-curve,” said Troscianecki. “Improving that intersection puts more pressure on the other substandard roads there, as well as on that curve.”

He and others also believe the roundabout won’t be needed, anyway, once the Route 50 widening is completed. And for several months, they’ve made their feelings known to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

In a Sept. 23, 2013 letter, Stella Koch, chairman of the county’s Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC), worried that a roundabout would affect the Rock Hill District Park, Mountain Road District Park and Elklick Preserve. She noted that wetlands are present in all three parks and that Rock Hill contains a “globally rare forested wetland community, plus two rare plant species that could be adversely affected by the project.” She also expressed concern that “a receiving stream south of the proposed project could be negatively impacted by increased flows.”

Yet in January, the supervisors endorsed the roundabout after Frey told his colleagues that Loudoun drivers are trying to reach their jobs in the Westfields Corporate Center through Braddock. “I can’t tell Loudoun commuters to use Route 50, instead,” he said. “People use whatever road they can.”

“It’s unfortunately become an ‘us against Loudoun County’ approach, but traffic knows no jurisdictional lines,” he continued. Frey also said waiting to see how the widened Route 50 impacts Loudoun traffic would be “sticking our heads in the sand” — and all three other approaches [to Fairfax County] are still congested.”

Then after the CTB’s action, Loudoun Del. David Ramadan (R-87) and Supervisor Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) announced in a June 18 press release to their constituents that “the final hurdle has been cleared for construction of [the] much-anticipated roundabout.” They also noted that more than $1 million was allocated for design, engineering and contingency.

“Today’s decision by the CTB is a victory for Loudoun’s Dulles South and western Prince William commuters,” said Ramadan. The document further stated that, “while Ramadan worked one-on-one with his House colleagues, at the direction of the Board of Supervisors, Loudoun County representatives met with every member of the House Appropriations Committee to educate them about the need for this project.”

The pair also met personally with Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne to ensure that the new administration would maintain support. Meanwhile, representing his Centreville constituents, Del. Tim Hugo (R-40) argued against the project. He, too, met with Layne and also wrote a June 17 letter to the CTB.

In it, he wrote that, when the original $2.6 million was appropriated, “I was assured by Del. Ramadan that a traffic circle was not an option.” By April 2013, though, Hugo learned from VDOT that a roundabout was now the preferred approach and that costs had risen.

“I expressed grave concern with the change in the project’s scope and VDOT agreed it was prudent to wait until the completion of Route 50 construction to reassess the needs of the intersection before proceeding with this project,” he wrote. Since then, continued Hugo, “This project has continued to morph and grow in costs and scope with no re-analysis by VDOT.”

Now, with a price tag of $5.8 million, wrote Hugo, “Before one shovel of dirt has been turned for this project, it is an astronomical 123 percent over the original cost estimate. I’m concerned that there are other costs, unanticipated in this design-build approach, that have yet to be uncovered — including environmental-mitigation measures that have not yet been identified, nor assessed, for potential costs.”

Equally troubling to him, he explained, is that VDOT seems bound and determined to build this roundabout despite widespread community opposition.

“The Sully District Council and Western Fairfax County Citizens Assn. (representing over 100 communities) voted to oppose this project,” wrote Hugo. “In addition, the HOA boards of Sully Station, Sully Station II and Virginia Run — which represent 4,000 homes and over 10,000 residents — have all voted to oppose this project.”

Still, last week, the CTB gave it the go-ahead, leaving Hugo and many Centreville residents fuming. Construction is expected to begin this fall, with a May 2016 completion. But local residents aren’t giving up.

Despite what the Loudoun representatives believe, said Virginia Run’s Jim Hart, “I believe there may yet be a ‘hurdle’ or two after the ‘final hurdle,’ and we should not lose sight of that. I understand the contractor still has to submit a plan, with the specific design, and still has to get Department of Environmental Quality and Army Corps of Engineers approvals for the wetlands disturbance.”

Stressing how many Fairfax County residents are concerned about the project’s “obvious impacts on parkland, wetlands, globally rare forest and threatened plants,” Hart said they’re not yet ready to throw in the towel.

He cited Virginia’s Route 460 Corridor Improvements project to build 55 new miles of Route 460 between I-295 in Prince George County to the Route 58 bypass in the City of Suffolk.

“Route 460, which was a larger project, also was approved — even had signed contracts — but they didn’t get their Army Corps approval, and they never cleared that ‘hurdle,’” said Hart. “The McAuliffe administration pulled the plug after many millions were spent. So ‘final hurdle’ celebrations may be premature.”

“We will continue to explore options to compel VDOT to stop the project and reevaluate signalized intersection alternatives,” added Troscianecki. “All options are on the table.”