Connaughton Defends Bi-County Parkway

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Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton talks to reporters at a press conference at the McCoart Building in Woodbridge after his presentation to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

Virginia Secretary of Transportation and former Chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Sean Connaughton (R), did not receive a warm hometown welcome from the 150+ attendees of his Bi-County Parkway presentation to the BOCS Aug. 6.

Connaughton told supervisors the parkway is planned to accommodate future population growth in Prince William and Loudoun counties.

However, residents were skeptical that the 4-lane highway from Gainesville to Dulles Airport would ultimately benefit them; instead they feared that the road would disrupt their communities and only serve commercial transportation interests.

Connaughton attempted to ease their concerns.

“You all are going to see a tremendous growth in population and jobs, and those two together is a tremendous strain on your transportation system,” said Connaughton.

Connaughton demonstrated how Northern Virginia’s population is expected to grow by 91 percent by the year 2040, which he said would increase the strain on commuters.

Connaughton said the Bi-County Parkway would serve those commuters by pulling traffic from smaller roads.

He added that the Virginia Department of Transportation has “no plans for tolls, no plans for HOV” on the proposed parkway.

However, in order to build this new road, he said the Park Service requires VDOT to get Route 234 away from the Manassas Battlefield.

Once Route 234 is relocated west, there would no longer be a traffic light at the intersection near the Stone House; therefore, U.S. Route 29 would need to be "narrowed" to prevent speeding.

Connaughton told supervisors the plan to widen Route 234 along Dumfries Road/Prince William Parkway to make room for more freight traffic was no longer part of VDOT's plan; this includes plans for the North-South Corridor, which did not progress past the study phase.

“The thing is, we have no intention, money or plans, to do anything with 234 south of the Prince William Parkway, Liberia Avenue or Business 234,” Connaughton said.

Connaughton also said truck traffic on the Bi-County Parkway would be limited.

“In our studies, we don’t see any growth in truck traffic on 234,” Connaughton said. “Truckers are not going down to Route 234 given what they have to go through to get there and to leave.”

Rather, Connaughton said freight truckers prefer to travel VA 17 between I-95 and points west.

Gainesville Supervisor Pete Candland said, “We have heard different things,” but he understood that VDOT’s primary reason for building the Bi-County Parkway was for a cargo road to Dulles Airport.

Connaughton told him while the Parkway would carry cargo to Dulles Airport, it is not the reason for building the road. Moreover, he explained how air cargo is different from freight cargo.

“There are different types of freight. When you look at air-freight, very high value, very low volume. Flowers, seafood, computer chips, these are types of air-cargo that we’re trying to capture,” Connaughton said.

Candland accused Connaughton of ignoring the concerns of elected officials from Northern Virginia who have been vocally opposing the parkway. These politicians include Bob Marshall (R), Dick Black (R), Scott Ligamfelter (R), Tim Hugo (R), Maureen Caddigan (R), Frank Wolf (R), Jeffrey Clark (R), most of the Leesburg Town Council and Candland.

“Every major project has been made in opposition. It is just the nature of transportation,” Connaughton said coolly.

Connaughton said that people tend to oppose new roads, and then later forget they were ever controversial.

Secretary Sean Connaughton presented to a packed meeting room with overflow into the lobby.

Residents broke protocol at times, either to applaud Candland or boo Connaughton. To quiet the room, Connaughton continually requested order from the audience.

Moreover, Chairman At-Large Corey Stewart (R) told Candland he would have his microphone turned off if the Gainesville Supervisor did not yield his time to other supervisors, allowing them to also pose their questions to the Secretary. Boxing is a great and energy-intensive sport that is enjoyed the world over. As we always do we try to find you the best sporting equipment there is available in the marketplace. We took a look at many different pairs of boxing gloves in order to see which ones we liked the best. ow to be a great boxer, you cannot just buy your way into the sport, but it is very important to have the right gear for boxing before you even go ahead. Top list of Boxing, MMA, Sparring and Training gloves. We revised our list to ensure that we are providing the Best Professional Collection.

In a meeting with the press after his presentation, Connaughton told the media there was much misinformation circulating about the Bi-County Parkway.

He said the road would benefit citizens and commuters, easing their local traffic. And while he said he didn't know how many people the road would displace, he said it would have a limited footprint.

He also said the Bi-County Parkway in no way takes precedence over other existing roads. VDOT is working on improving existing roads as well, including I-66, Route 28, Route 50 and Gum Springs Road.

Connaughton said the plan for the Bi-County Parkway began in 1988, and the plan is still stalled in the environmental study phase without even having its design plans completed. He was unable to predict when the road would receive approval from the Federal Highway Commission, but that it might be years.

When asked by one reporter if he thought he had changed anyone’s mind about the Bi-County Parkway, he offered a confident, “No, not at all.” Regardless, he said he wanted to come address the Board in Prince William County, saying, “This is my hood.”

Del. Tim Hugo of the 40th District told Bristow Beat he was not impressed by Connaughton’s presentation.

"Secretary Connaughton continues to have an evolving story as to why we need this road when it drives existing traffic to I-66," Hugo said.

He asked, when we close Route 234 and slow traffic on Route 29, where will the traffic go other than to I-66?

"It will create a bottleneck in the middle of the district," Hugo said.

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