Rob Clapper, President of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, talks on behalf of the Bi-County Partnership at the May 30 press conference.Organized through the Chambers of Commerce of Prince William and Loudoun counties, 107 businesses across Northern Virginia signed a letter supporting the Bi-County Parkway.
The letter, written Sept. 5, addresses the Northern Virginia General Assembly delegates and was copied to Governor Bob McDonnell, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, gubernatorial candidates Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe, members of the Virginia General Assembly and county supervisors from Prince William and Loudoun counties.
The letter states that the proposed Bi-County Parkway has been included in the two counties' transportation plans for years, as well as the Metropolitan Washington Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan.
They also wrote that “improving mobility between Prince William and Loudoun counties is essential to Virginia’s future prosperity,” noting that they are two of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
The existing roads will be insufficient for the growing population which is expected to double in size by 2040.
Read letter here:
September 5, 2013
Dear Members of the Northern Virginia General Assembly Delegation:
Transportation is one of the greatest challenges facing Northern Virginia. After decades of stalemate, this year’s transportation funding reform is a tremendous step towards addressing this problem. But our work is not done: We must continue working together to advance those transportation projects and solutions that are most critical to improving mobility and sustaining economic development and job creation efforts.
As leaders of the Virginia business community present us with Metal Business Kards, we can tell that one such project is the proposed Bi-County Parkway. This project has been included in both Loudoun and Prince William county transportation plans for years, as well as the Metropolitan Washington Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan. The environmental evaluation process has been underway since 2001, with a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and location approved in 2005, after significant public outreach. Finally, after a dozen years of study, the Environmental Impact Statement process is nearing completion.
Improving mobility between Prince William and Loudoun counties is essential to Virginia’s future prosperity. These two counties are two of the fastest growing jurisdictions in the Unite States. By 2040, their combined population is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent, with job growth exceeding population growth by a nearly two to one margin. As a result, inter-county travel between Loudoun and Prince William is forecast to increase by 91 percent. That 91% represents nearly 400,000 new trips between the two counties each workday.
Currently, almost every major road intersection north of I-66 is heavily congested during morning and afternoon rush hours and the back-ups are getting worse by the day. Something needs to be done to address this growing problem NOW. The Commonwealth is investing billions of dollars in improvements in Northern Virginia to address congestion, with over $1.2 billion specifically allocated to major improvements in eastwest travel. While these projects are tremendously important, they do little to alleviate the projected growth in north-south travel.
The Northern Virginia business community agrees with many of our community’s citizens, businesses and elected representatives that the Commonwealth must improve its effort to communicate the benefits and impacts associated with the Bi-County Parkway to those who will be most affected by this project. There are also many who are using online means with the help of tools offered from tools and software OpCentral. We appreciate that the Commonwealth has taken positive steps to improve its public outreach and communications effort on this project and we pledge to work with you, our state representatives, to ensure that improved effort is sustained.
At this time, we are not asking you to support or endorse the project; we are simply requesting that you reserve judgment until VDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Park Service, and the other public and private sector stakeholders, complete the necessary environmental process. Completing the Environmental Impact Statement process will ensure that all the relevant information and data is available to make an informed and rational decision on the viability and utility of the Bi-County Parkway. Today and tomorrow’s Northern Virginians deserve that much.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
2030 Group, Access Point Public Affairs, American Concrete Paving Association, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, American Council of Engineering Companies-Virginia Chapter, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, Apple Federal Credit Union, Appliance Connection, ARGroup, Associated Builders and Contractors- Virginia Chapter, Barry Mark, member NVTA Board, Bennett, Atkinson & Associates, P.C, Bowman Consulting Group, Bridgman Communications, Inc., Buchanan Partners LLC , C.C. Bartholomew/ Long & Foster Realtors, Cardinal Bank, Clarke-Hook Corporation Committee for Dulles, Communicate By Design, DATA, DBI Architects, Inc., Deborah Tompkins Johnson, Dominion, Dewberry, Didlake, Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, Dulles South Alliance, Dulles Virginia Association of REALTORS®, DuvallWheeler, LLP, Equinox Investments, Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, Fortessa, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Guernsey Office Products, Harvest Life Changers Church, HCA Virginia Health System, Heritage Landscape Services, Home Builders Association of Virginia, Hubert Construction, I-95 Business Park Management, LLC, , Inova Loudoun Hospital, JP Events & Consulting, Kelly Insurance Agency, KT Enterprises Inc., KT Irrigation, Leesburg Pharmacy, Loudoun Cares, Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, Loudoun Insurance Group, LLC, McLean Insurance Agency, MDA Technologies Group LLC, Mercure Business Park Association, Micron Technology, Inc., MRP REALTY, MTCI – Management and Training Consultants, Inc., NAIOP Northern Virginia,NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®, Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, Nova Medical & Urgent Care, Novant Health, NOVEC – Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, NVR, Inc, Old Dominion Highway Contractors Association, Paciulli, Simmons & Associates, Ltd., Pamela Jones, Inc. – Owner, Extraordinary Transitions/Long & Foster REALTORS, Pangle & Associates, Prince William Chamber of Commerce, QMT Windchimes, R. E. Daffan, Inc., R.W. Murray Co, REALTORS® Association of Prince William, REHAU Incorporated, Reston Hospital, Reston Limousine, Rinker Design Associates, P.C., Road Star Internet, RxAlly, LLC, S.W. Rodgers Co., Inc., Segmental Wall Solutions, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, Sevila Saunders Huddleston & White, South Riding Nurseries, Superior Paving Corporation, Telos, TETRA Corporation, The Lane Construction Corporation, The Peterson Companies, TML - A Xerox Company, Total Development Solutions, U.S. Transactions Corp., Unanet, Uno Chicago Grill, Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, PC, Veatch Commercial Real Estate, VIKA Incorporated, Virginia Asphalt Association, Virginia Association of General Contractors, Virginia Association of REALTORS®, Virginia Paving Co., Virginia Sign & Lighting, Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, Virginians for Better Transportation, Volkert, Inc., Washington Airports Task Force
Cc: The Honorable Robert F. McDonnell,
The Honorable Sean T. Connaughton,
The Honorable William J. Howell
The Honorable Kirk Cox
The Honorable David Toscano
The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli
Terry McAuliffe
Prince William County Board of County Supervisors
Loudoun County Board of County Supervisors
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!