Loudoun to Study the 'Ashburn-Sterling Traffic Funnel'

Many times during her term on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Andrea McGimsey has pointed to Dulles Airport as not just a key economic development engine, but also an obstacle to traffic seeking destinations east of Route 28.

On Tuesday, McGimsey (D-Potomac) won approval from the board to move forward with an initiative to study what she calls the Ashburn-Sterling Traffic Funnel.

Loudoun residents must circumvent the airport, whether to the south via Route 50, or to the north via Waxpool Road, the Dulles Greenway, Route 606 or Route 7. And many commuters acknowledge heading north to the Greenway to avoid headaches on Route 50. So wherever Loudoun commuters live, most of them pass the airport to the north.

“Pretty much all of Loudoun County’s traffic goes funneling through this short piece of land between the airport and the river – the traffic funnel,” McGimsey explained, adding that a lack of river crossings between Point of Rocks and the Capital Beltway also makes the river a barrier for commuters. “The hope is that with this analysis we’re going to be able to prioritize our transportation dollars.”

McGimsey said even if all the roads planned by the county are constructed by 2030, many interchanges and roadways would continue to experience failing service levels, which are based on the amount of time it takes to pass through a particular area.

Under the proposal, McGimsey asked county staff members to report to the Transportation/Land Use Committee with an estimate of needs and costs as well as a work plan. Allowing the road system to fail, McGimsey said, would mean negatively impacting the potential to draw new business to the county.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) said he supported the initiative, but had reservations about making certain changes, such as widening Church Road. When a proposal came forward under the previous board of supervisors to widen that road east of Route 28, members of the planning commission and the board balked and set two lanes as that road’s limit.

Delgaudio described McGimsey’s map of the “funnel” as being similar to a strategic military map.

“I can’t help but noticing all those arrows point at the Sterling District,” he said. “I’m voting for this, OK, but it looks like an invasion of Sterling and Sugarland Run and the east. They’re coming in … the hordes are coming. It looks like D-Day, you know.”

The board voted 6-0-3 to initiate the study. County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) and Supervisors Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) and Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) were absent for the vote.

McGimsey is also encouraging her constituents to offer comments about the proposal during public input sessions on July 5 and July 18, or via email at bos@loudoun.gov or Andrea.McGimsey@loudoun.gov. The Transportation/Land Use Committee will take up the item no earlier than July 20. Residents may also make comments.