Supervisor McGimsey's Excellent Questions

Supervisor McGimsey, of the former Potomac and new Broad Run district, has a history of asking difficult questions that powers that be have a hard time answering. As a leader of the smart growth movement in Loudoun, she asked questions of the former Board about the impacts of the decisions it was making. Questions about costs, and impacts to our environment and quality of life. As a Supervisor, she has continued asking the difficult questions about developments being proposed. She also has been asking questions that have led to great answers for Loudoun, questions like "how can our government save more money, and energy."

This week, Supervisor McGimsey asked another question critical to the well-being of her constituents: What should be done about the traffic bottlenecks in the new Broad Run District?

County staff members will soon begin eying long-term solutions to address one of Loudoun's most congested areas, following the urging of Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac).

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to support an initiative by McGimsey to conduct a traffic analysis of the Ashburn-Sterling "traffic funnel." This area is defined as the roads surrounding and including the Dulles Greenway, Rt. 606, Waxpool/Church Road, Gloucester Parkway/Nokes Boulevard and Rt. 7 between Belmont Ridge Road and Atlantic Boulevard.

In a brief introduction on the subject Tuesday, McGimsey explained that this is one of two areas in Loudoun with "geographic barriers" limiting where roads can be built. In this area, Dulles Airport cuts off a great amount of potential east/west traffic, which then feeds out onto the existing roads.

"Pretty much all of Loudoun County traffic goes funneling through a short piece of land between the airport and the [Potomac] river and it all funnels down to a very small part of the county," she said. - Leesburg Today

The traffic funnel that Supervisor McGimsey identified is indeed a critical issue in future planning for Loudoun County. If we ever hope to improve traffic flow for commuters who live west of Dulles but work at jobs east of Dulles, it is important for the community, its businesses and its leaders to start collaborating on answers, now.

I comment Supervisor McGimsey for both recognizing the problem, and inviting the entire Loudoun community to come together and ask the right questions to get the best answers.