proposal to close a portion of Ruritan Circle has drawn opposition from Sterling residents and business people.
The Board of Supervisors, at a public hearing Tuesday night, sent the proposal back to the Transportation Committee for further review. A developer has petitioned the board to abandon 2,133 square feet in the middle of the circle and convert its vehicle use to pedestrian and bike trail use.The Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail is owned by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.
Bruce Tulloch, vice-chairman of the board, said something needs to be done to handle the high concentration of bicyclists crossing Church Road, which connects with Ruritan Circle. This project, however, does not appear to be the solution, he said. The circle is in Tulloch’s Potomac District.
Supervisor Stephen Snow (R-Dulles) said abandonment would put a constraint on businesses. “In solving one problem, they created another one,” he said. “One is recreation. One is business. I think we have to side with business.”
Lana Nguyen, owner of Treasures of Time, said tractor trailers carrying furniture would not be able to access her showroom. “The transportation officials made a decision regardless of how we feel,” she said.
Betty Geoffroy, owner of the 24-year-old business Sterling Schoolhouse, said the move would hurt her business and hamper access to her home. Closing the middle section of the circle also would create a safety hazard. “There is only one way in and out,” she said, referring to the intersection of Ruritan Circle and Church Road. “You wait 10 or 15 minutes to get out” onto Church Road.
SHE SAID she understands that the developer is looking out for the bicyclists. “That’s fine, but there’s a lot more going on than biking,” she said. The Parks Authority estimated 100 to 127 bicyclists use the trail per hour during peak periods on Saturday and Sundays.
Geoffrey disagreed. “The bike traffic is usually pretty nil,” she said. “In the summertime, there is a lot more, but not way that many.”
She complained that home and business owners were not notified directly about the public hearing. She learned about it from a notice tacked to a telephone pole.
Nguyen said the developer, the Park Authority and the county Office of Transportation say they are working with us to ensure the “best for everybody.
“Let me be the judge of that,” she said.
GEORGE PHILLIPS, senior transportation planner, said he will organize a meeting with land and business owners, the developer, the Park Authority and other interested parties next week. He will catalog their views before the Transportation Committee meets to discuss the project July 12.
Nguyen expressed confidence that the Board of Supervisors would find an alternative proposal.
Geoffroy was not as positive. “I’m confident they’ll do whatever they want to do,” she said.
David Mahoney, a Dewberry & Davis LLC project manager for the Route 28 and Route 625 interchange project, is seeking the abandonment. The move would coincide with the realignment of Church Road, also known as Route 625, and the bridging of Route 625 over the trail. The interchange project would add two lanes to Route 625 across the Authority’s trail. Under federal requirements, the Virginia Department of Transportation would have to obtain replacement land in exchange for the crossing. VDOT also would buy a small parcel southwest of the W&OD intersection for a paved connecting path.
Proponents say abandonment is essential to widening and relocating the Route 625 approach to the Route 28 interchange bridge. They also say it also would remedy a traffic problem involving the pedestrian and bike trail.