Acting on a motion from Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), in September 2000, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a recommendation to ban commercial through trucks from both Bull Run Post Office Road and Stone Road in Centreville.
The recommendation then went to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) for final approval, while residents here waited for the CTB's response ... and waited ... and waited. Nearly 2 1/2 years have gone by since then, but at long last, the CTB has approved the truck ban on those roads.
The members made their decision last Thursday, Feb. 20, and it was welcome news to Frey. "I am very pleased that the CTB has finally done it," he said. "I'm particularly pleased that they did both [roads]."
A narrow, shoulderless road beset with twists, turns, blind curves and areas of deterioration — Bull Run Post Office Road is a challenge for regular vehicles, alone. With commercial trucks in the mix, residents risked their lives every time they traveled the road.
As a result, they asked Frey to help ban through trucks on Bull Run Post Office, north from Route 29, almost to Braddock Road, near the Loudoun County line. But with such trucks already banned on the area's only other north/south route — Pleasant Valley Road — Frey didn't want to divert these trucks to the Route 28/29 interchange.
He also knew that, if trucks traveling eastbound on Route 29 veered off instead, at the I-66 East exit, they could still hook up down the road with Route 50 and Route 28 and reach their destinations, without going near Routes 28/29.
But the sight distance was dicey at the Route 29/I-66 crest, and heavy trucks don't accelerate quickly. Frey realized that, without a traffic light, there could be a hazardous traffic backup. So he met with VDOT and, this past December, the light was installed.
Frey also asked for the accompanying truck ban on Stone. "I couldn't imagine a situation where we'd be sending every truck down Stone Road," he said. "I'm hopeful the ban will be implemented [soon] and things will go smoothly."