Lights, Please?

It was back in February when I wrote that all the paperwork was in and the traffic lights at Shellhorn Road and Ashburn Village Parkway would soon be activated.

Now it’s May and drivers are still fumbling through that four-way-stop continuum, which can be quite grueling during rush hour.

A spokeswoman with Dominion Power said its crews are ready to start the activation process -- DoPo is just waiting for word from the county that it has the signed easement agreement from Edens & Avant, the developer of the Shoppes at Ryan Park, granting Dominion permission to bury distribution lines in its parking lot.

Now, I’m told that the most recent holdup is with Chipotle corporate, who had some issues with the contract’s wording -- they wanted 120 days to inspect Dominion’s work and Dominion’s standard is 30. Dominion Power said it's now reached an inspection agreement with the gourmet burrito eatery. (Almost makes you want to boycott Chipotle for this delay … if their food wasn’t so darn tasty.)

OK, Edens & Avant, the ball is now in your court. Please get Chipotle to sign the affirmation agreement and overnight a hard-copy of the completed easement documents to:

Office of Transportation Services
1 Harrison Street, S.E.,
4th Floor, Mailstop #69
Leesburg, VA 20175

Dear Office of Transportation Services,
When you get these documents from Edens & Avant, contact Dominion Power ASAP so they can get those traffic lights working!
Love,
Frustrated Motorists in Ashburn

Greedway? Not on May 15th!

All tolls collected by the Dulles Greenway during the 24 hours of Thursday, May 15, will be donated to area charities. This will be the private toll road’s third-annual Drive for Charity, and organizers hope to raise a record $200,000 this time around.

Beneficiaries include the March of Dimes, the Loudoun Special Olympics, the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter, the Fresh Air/Full Care campaign, the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the Dulles Greenway Citizenship Award, which will provide college scholarships to 12 deserving LCPS seniors.

Rt. 7 bypass gets an “F” (and it doesn’t stand for “Fast”)

Yesterday’s Post ran a front-page story about VDOT’s major budget cuts. Loudoun’s Rt. 7 bypass project, which would have widened 1.8 miles of the roadway from four lanes to six is now $18 million short. Good times.

The article also states that the roadway is currently rated “F” by the state because of the stop-and-go traffic. The now-postponed lane-widening would have brought it up to a “C."

Chuck Acker, with the county’s transportation office, believes the biggest problem area of the bypass is driving out of Leesburg toward Purcellville during rush hour. “People are gunning it to get up that hill -- and then there’s a backlog,” he said. VDOT would like to ease this traffic by adding another lane to create two fast lanes and one for slower traffic.