How's Rt 50 from South Riding to 28 these days? (Fairfax, Gainesville: HOA, houses)

[KittyTwoShoes]

I have timed several routes getting to 28 from the Rt. 50 area. Sitting on Rt. 50 is still, by far, almost always the fastest. The only time I cut through is if traffic is backed up from Poland, and then I turn right on Poland and head down towards Braddock. Still more of a pleasant drive to have no one of either side of me and slowly moving rather that competing with cars turning right on red and gunning it to get ahead of me at the Tall Cedars and close by feeder roads.

[Hudlander]

I remember back in 1998 going past the S-curve on Braddock Road, then onto Poland Road with their being only a stop sign at RT 50 passing an Alpaca farm.
Then being on RT 50 past South Riding BLVD you were in the pleasant country.
Gum Spring Road was woods, with just a stop sign.
Wish they kept it that way, it's disguisting how they bulldozed everything and built the same ugly cookie cutter mess. I remember when it was peaceful country not too long ago, boy how NOVA failed.

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Induced traffic. It will never be better until they figure out land use, not just widening and accommodating further and further sprawl in Loudoun and Chantilly

As a Planner, I do not understand this.
I do not understand why basic fundamental principles of cohesive land use and transportation were totally ignored as if they were unknown.
It's not NOVA did not have planners, yet I don't know how to explain WHY the area developed so poorly in regards to housing vs. infrastructure.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

It's not NOVA did not have planners, yet I don't know how to explain WHY the area developed so poorly in regards to housing vs. infrastructure.

I can explain.....it involves lots of $$$$$$$$............

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by greenarrow101

Northstar Blvd or the future and inevitable bi county parkway run right past Stone Ridge. Making the Dulles South area a mid point space between Ashburn/Leesburg and Manassas/Gainsville. This will further improve commercial demand in the area.

Finally the route 606 metro station due for 2018. Will be less then 15 minutes from the Dulles South area directly taking the by then expanded 606. This is slightly further than Brambleton / Broadlands and their commute to the 772 station, but that time will pretty much be made up on the metro from 772 and 606. The unique thing about the 606 station is that it's primary purpose will be to serve the Dulles South area. Route 606 will eventually become a limited access highway through an industrial area between Dulles South and the metro. This pretty much means the road will be primarily used by residents of the South Riding/ Aldie area.

So given all this information it should be clear why the Dulles South area lacks all the mature roadways and retail of Ashburn (which are actually not for just Ashburn, but Leesburg and Sterling/Herndon) The area is literally building a city and a regional center from nothing. It isn't a crossroads (yet) like Auburn is, nor has any nearby cities to share it's retail with, except for Chantilly. So it just needs time. Eventually its value will grow to rival and perhaps even surpass older suburbs like Centreville. The area has a big future ahead of it, no longer as an exurb but as a regional center.

1) I consider Dulles south the stuff SOUTH of Rt 50. Brambleton does not count, so looking at Dulles south in this way, it isn't going to become the regional center.

2) The bi county parkway is not close to a done deal. In fact, I hope they never build with the current selection candidate C and D.



We do need a better North-South route, but something in the hinterlands is stupid and purely for developers.

The best choice would be the once-proposed "Tri-County Parkway" following "E" and "F" from Godwin drive in Manassas to the Loudoun County Parkway.
Let's hope they get their senses right.

[gomason]

I agree E and F are better choices but I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone in Manassas wants to go to Ashburn besides for Ford's Fish Shack. Nobody is commuting there for work.

We need better east-west connections. Nova doesn't really have a N-S corridor problem, except for 95/1.

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by gomason

I agree E and F are better choices but I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone in Manassas wants to go to Ashburn besides for Ford's Fish Shack. Nobody is commuting there for work.

We need better east-west connections. Nova doesn't really have a N-S corridor problem, except for 95/1.

Are you kidding me?
You don't think Manassas/Southern PW and even Stafford people don't work in the Dulles Corridor?

Have you seen the mess at I-66 and 234 in Manassas?
That intersection is totally substandard, 234 is jammed in Manassas, at the very least, built option "E" so Manassas is bypassed.

Then, upgrade the PW PKWAY to a freeway.

[gomason]

Originally Posted by Hudlander

Are you kidding me?
You don't think Manassas/Southern PW and even Stafford people don't work in the Dulles Corridor?

Have you seen the mess at I-66 and 234 in Manassas?
That intersection is totally substandard, 234 is jammed in Manassas, at the very least, built option "E" so Manassas is bypassed.

Then, upgrade the PW PKWAY to a freeway.

I know people work in the Dulles Corridor. Do you really think a lot of people are commuting to South Riding and Ashburn though? This bypass would be miles from most employment centers.

A much simpler answer would be to improve 28 and its interchange with 66.

[Hudlander]

Originally Posted by gomason

I know people work in the Dulles Corridor. Do you really think a lot of people are commuting to South Riding and Ashburn though? This bypass would be miles from most employment centers.

A much simpler answer would be to improve 28 and its interchange with 66.

I agree, and they are actively working right now on plans for 28/66 to improve, but 66/234 and 234 through manassas needs work too.

The Godwin ext would help Manassas/Southern PW/Stafford commutters with a direct limited access road to the Route 28/Dulles corridor AND I-66 Fairfax corridor without clogging up local 234.

[terribletraffic]

So, I wanted to check back in on this thread now that the RT 50 construction is complete and obviously completely inadequate.

RT 606 and 28 is under construction for meager improvements compared to what is needed and, like RT 50, by the time construction destruction is complete, Loudoun county will have let the Builders get away with rezoning to high density residential, violating their own growth plan, to the point where the road improvements will be inadequate.

VDOT needs to reign in these out of control counties and stop installing walking paths in place of vehicle lanes so long as the statistics show 78% of people drive in an automobile by themselves going to work every morning. Everyone who drives RT 50 on a daily basis knows that the route 50 improvements needed to be 4 lanes in each direction however VDOT and their planners did not understand or comprehend. Similarly, route 606 needs to be constructed to six lanes immediately not 4 lanes and 2 walking paths.

It is difficult to watch such obvious mistakes being made that will affect the quality of life for tens of thousands of citizens who depend on the county and Vdot for transportation solutions after the builders lie to them about future roads that take decades to realize.

Another example of the poor planning an inability to fully comprehend the full magnitude of infrastructure requirements is currently playing out on the RT 28 and 66 interchange where the inability to understand future requirements 30 years ago have now manifested itself with the painful process of expanding the interchange 10 years too late now that all the adjacent land is developed.

The double diamond interchange at RT 15 and 66 in Haymarket will be the next inadequately built interchange, like route 28 and 66. The idiocy is fully evident as the 6-8 lane interchange will neck down to two lanes at the railroad bridge rendering the 66 lane widening and RT 15 interchange a parking area to hold traffic until the county controlled roads are eventually brought up to standard. Probably after developers have slammed in thousands of more residences. In the morning, the 66 widening doesn't matter because of the volume entering at Manassas.

So how is the traffic on RT 50 from South Riding after $100 million in improvements?

It stinks and it gets worse by the day and there is no, zero, hope that it will get better. The Counties allow builders to just install more unsynchronized lights for thousands more residents to flood the roads. If you have to commute, I would avoid living in this area for 5 - 10 years until VDOT and the county put some sort of limited access highway in place that the builders can't install a signal It used to take me 10-15 minutes in 2006 to make it from south riding to Dulles, now it takes at least 30 minutes in the morning or afternoon return. What a great improvement!

[Ffxdata]

I'm not sure why you focus on the 66 interchanges considering they are all likely to change with the 66 expansion next year.

Your view of walking and biking paths as a mistake is puzzling to me. I'd rather bike and walking lanes than 6 lanes of pavement. They have plans to run a new bike path behind my house and and I couldn't be happier because it is desperately needed.

VDOT is not obligated to kowtow to single occupant vehicles who often choose unreasonable commutes and refuse to carpool.