Board Opposes Delay In Rt. 28 Interchange

The Rt. 28/Sterling Boulevard interchange, which had been on track to open Tuesday, six months ahead of schedule, may be opened next week by the Virginia Department of Transportation after the board of supervisors urged the state to move forward with the project.

VDOT had delayed the opening because of safety concerns local businesses and fire and rescue personnel raised. Del. David Poisson (D-32) and Sen. Mark Herring (D-33) contacted Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer, who directed VDOT Commissioner David Ekern to evaluate safety concerns involved with a request to allow Cedar Green Road to retain direct access to Rt. 28. The access point is right-in, right-out only and can only be reached via Rt. 28 northbound.

VDOT engineers had previously determined that it would be better to close the access because of concerns about traffic merging and weaving because of vehicles entering Rt. 28 from Sterling Boulevard and exiting onto Church Road, and therefore were reluctant to open the interchange until that access was closed. However, business owners in the area have been working to keep the access open and public safety leaders worry that closing the road could hamper emergency response.

"The concern for us as engineers is that we are on record as not approving the right-in, right-out in a permanent configuration," said Susan Shaw, VDOT's Rt. 28 project manager.

Shaw said the first phase of the interchange could possibly be opened with the access to Cedar Green intact during construction of the second and third phases of the interchange. Beyond that, leaving the access open permanently would be up to Ekern, she said.

"We're still working through those final details, but it looks like we may be able to make that happen," Shaw said, about opening the first phase next week.

Last week, word of a delay on the interchange irked Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who said he was concerned that it would lead to indefinite delays. At that time, he compared the state's decision to delay opening the interchange ramps to a Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack on Loudoun motorists. Later he called such comparisons hyperbole, saying people who know him understand his use of sarcasm in such debates. He then offered a comparison with shutting down the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Sterling, which Gov. Mark Warner (D) did during a budget stalemate a few years ago. Delgaudio called the interchange delay the "transportation crime of the century."

"I am not joking," he said, about comparing the delay with Pearl Harbor, before softening his analogy. "This is an attack that makes the DMV closing look like a cakewalk. This is 100 times worse than the closing of the Sterling DMV."

County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) wants the interchange to open, too, but was more acceptable to a short delay to determine whether there is a safe way to keep the Cedar Green access in place.

"The question for us is simply, can Cedar Green stay open?" York said last week. During Tuesday's board meeting, he wondered why VDOT couldn't open the interchange, while the safety concerns are studied.

"Despite the fact that folks want to take a look at Cedar Green, you could open the interchange today if you wanted to," he said.

York and Supervisor Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac) agreed that other interchanges along Rt. 28 have similar merging and weaving issues.

Delgaudio and Supervisor Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run) were not pleased that the board was not formally told about the delay immediately and given an opportunity to weigh in.

"Why do I have to read about this in Leesburg Today to find out that an interchange that is slated to open today is not going to be open?" Staton asked. "Why was no one on this board contacted about this issue?"

Shaw said VDOT worked with representatives on the county's Transportation Safety Commission and the Fire and Rescue Commission. Board members disagreed about whether members of those commissions are representatives of the county.

Delgaudio accused Poisson and Herring of sabotaging the interchange project. Herring and Poisson were present at the board meeting, where Poisson presented a letter to reporters that Delgaudio wrote to the owner of the Volkswagen dealer along Cedar Green in February, saying he would work to keep the access open. That was the same position that Poisson and Herring have taken in working with state leaders to identify options for the businesses.

Delgaudio remains concerned that the interchange may not open for months and said he would keep his eyes open to make sure it does open next week. He said he could support leaving the access point open for emergency purposes only.

The board considered two motions Tuesday, one that would request the interchange be opened next week with Cedar Green left open to all traffic, and another that would only allow emergency access via Cedar Green.

The motion for emergency access only failed on a 2-6-1 vote with Staton and Delgaudio supporting it. Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) was absent from the meeting.

The board voted 8-0-1 to request access be left open during construction. In the meantime, an independent analysis is being conducted for VDOT.

Staton pointed out that the plans to close the Cedar Green access were originally approved almost 20 years ago, but Tulloch said the project has been dynamic with changes continuing to this day.

VDOT plans to study whether allowing right-in, right-out access to Cedar Green from northbound Rt. 28 would pose public safety problems because of difficulty accessing businesses along Shaw Road. While studying the right-out access, the opening of the interchange will be delayed. The right-in portion of the study can be performed after the interchange opens.

Doug Rambo, chairman of the Loudoun Fire and Rescue Commission, said he was concerned because of public safety issues and pointed to long-standing fire and rescue requests for two access points for large residential and commercial areas. In the case of Shaw Road businesses, if Cedar Green Road is closed, the access would be limited to two routes via Shaw Road: either using a winding route from Church Road or a narrow, shoulderless route form Sterling Road.

He said he's just doing his job and he'll be happy knowing he fulfilled his responsibilities despite the final result. He also said supervisors could expect a similar argument when it comes time to close direct access to Holiday Drive.

Delgaudio said that leaving Cedar Green open to all traffic "is an unsafe condition by any stretch of the imagination," but that he was open to permitting limited access for public safety vehicles. Staton agreed.

Asked why businesses would want to push for what he considers a more dangerous design, he said, "They're stupid. They're short-sighted and selfish."

However, he also questions which vehicles would use that access because the closest fire and rescue stations are in Cascades and along Sterling Boulevard, which may not need to use Rt. 28 to reach businesses in that area.