MANASSAS, Va. – Support for an outer beltway in Prince William and Loudoun counties is growing thanks to a new partnership with major business organizations in region.
A total of 12 administrations today, including the Prince William and Loudoun chambers of commerce, joined to form the Bi-County Parkway Partnership. They say the planned 45-mile road that would link Interstate 95 in Dumfries with I-66 in Manassas via a transformed Va. 234, and then beyond to Dulles Airport and Va. 7 in Loudoun County, will better position the region to accommodate an estimated 300,000 new jobs that will come to the area as population continues to grow.
“This road is about improving the quality of life in our communities by untangling our region’s transportation mess; getting traffic off our neighborhood roads, making it easier for people to get to work, school, church or the grocery store and about creating jobs,” said Prince William Chamber of Commerce President Rob Clapper.
Their support of the proposed highway project, officially known at the North-South Corridor of Statewide Significance, comes as Prince William County residents opposed to the project continue to fill seats at public meetings. They voice opposition to locally elected leaders who, in turn, tell them to complain to state officials.
Those with a vested interest in the road, which would create more truck traffic as shippers move freight to and from an underutilized Dulles Airport through Prince William County, will have another chance to voice their opinions at a meeting with the Virginia Department of Transportation Monday June 3 at 6 p.m. at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas.
The proposed outer beltway corridor, a new highway that would link U.S. 50 to Va. 606 in Loudoun County to provide better access to the western side of Dulles Airport and future Metro stations being built there, and for a Manassas Battlefield Bypass road, will all be discussed at the meeting. Visitors will see display boards and ask questions from 6 to 7 p.m., and then they’ll move into an auditorium for a presentation and question and answer session that’s scheduled to wrap-up at 9 p.m., according a press release from VDOT.
The Manassas Battlefield, the homes around it, and the roads that carry traffic through it – U.S. 29 and Va. 234 Business – are also a heated topic in this discussion. If an outer beltway is built, a portion of it would run through the battlefield. In exchange for the land, portions of U.S. 29 and Va. 234 that currently traverse the national park will close, in agreement between the state and National Park Service. Residents argue that if portions of these two roads, and nearby Pageland Lane close under the proposal, it would negatively impact their quality of life.
And for officials at Prince William County who say their hands are tied, five organizations in a letter dated February 22, 2013 seem to disagree. The letter, among other things, questions the legal procedure in which the roads through the battlefield will be closed, and names Prince William County as a possible owner of the roads even if state and federal officials decide to shut them down, essentially making Prince William County the new owner of the portions of closed roadways.
