To the Editor:

I’ m writing to express my concern with the content of Amber Healy’s article “Rolling Road Expansion Gobbles Up Real Estate” in the April 17th Springfield Connection. As one of the residents of Rolling Road who has been opposing this project for years, I can only say that it provides another example of bureaucratic inflexibility and political tone deafness.

First - the comments from Ms. Jan Vaughn, of VDOT. Ms. Vaughn has, in the past, appeared to be willing to work with residents and in fact was a significant player in obtaining a much needed stoplight at Rolling Road and Barnack Street. However, her comment “The idea of canceling this project doesn’t have a lot of legs. It was a county priority before we had BRAC to deal with and it’s fully funded already” seems to indicate that the concerns of those of us most impacted by the project will be ignored, no matter how circumstances have changed.

Of even greater concern is the comment from our erstwhile Supervisor, Pat Herrity….”We need this”. Who needs it, and why?

For years we have asked for the rationale behind widening Rolling Road from its current two lane configuration (with median and parking lanes and a totally ignored 30 mph speed limit) to a four lane “mini-Interstate” with raised median, parking lanes, left turn lanes and a multi-modal pathway. The answer invariably has been “It has been in the County Master plan since X”, x being at least twenty years at this point. While that might be a historical fact, it doesn’t answer the question. What assumptions were made by the existing Board at the time to prompt this decision? We have never been told…..and assumptions and projections from 20+ years ago just might not have panned out. When the point is pressed…..the BRAC becomes the next line of rationalization.

A few facts, thoughts and observations:

Traffic and growth:

Under the BRAC, 8500 employees of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will move into new facilities at the old Engineer Proving Ground (EPG), located south of the Franconia-Springfield Bypass/Fairfax County Parkway and between Backlick and Rolling Roads. Sounds like a lot of folks introduced to our local road system. In the absolute worst case scenario, all 8500 drive themselves individually to work and all decide Rolling Road is the route of choice. But NGIA is a 24/7 operation, so assuming 3 shifts per day, we are now looking at 2833 per shift and two days are on weekends. Using VDOT’s current estimate of traffic volume (23000 per day)…that doesn’t look like the kind of new load that warrants construction of a “mini-Interstate”.

A more realistic assessment…..NGIA headquarters is currently located in Bethesda. Are all those employees going to move en masse to homes in Springfield and Burke? Some probably, most not likely. Many will commute from their current homes, using I-95/495/395, and accessing the EPG from the east (I-95 and Backlick Road). Those that do move to NoVA will typically be scattered across the area and use any number of routes to get to work….including the Fairfax County Parkway that will cut right along the EPG.

But what about this new BRAC traffic and just normal growth? Shouldn’t we take that into account? Certainly, but using figures provided by Ms. Vaughn discloses something interesting. The computer model they use crunched the data and came up with a 2.4% growth rate in 2001. The latest run, including BRAC, zoning changes, et. al. produced a growth rate estimate of 2.2%...down! The traffic projection of 39100 cars per day that had been bandied about as the impending load turns out to be the estimate for 2031…23 years from now. Given that there is no more land in our area for development, the impact of higher fuel costs and greater support by government and business for telecommuting - what factors were used to generate this traffic projection?

Public Safety

As noted earlier, Rolling Road, in the area to be expanded, has a 30 MPH speed limit….ignored by one and all. We’ve had multiple incidents where cars parked at curbside were sideswiped (and in one case hit so hard it was shoved up on the sidewalk…totaled.) Widen the street to “mini-Interstate” specifications, cut back the distance from street to house by the 10 feet easement….and whose home will be the first to have a car imbedded in the front door when some bozo loses control at 60MPH?

Funding:

Ms. Vaughn stated in the article that $28 million has been allocated for the Rolling Road widening. Coincidentally, in the same week that the Connection article came out, an article in the Washington Post announced that “VDOT Plan Would Cut Roads Funds by 44%”. Since by law, maintenance comes before new construction as a VDOT priority, will that money really be available? And if so, wouldn’t it make more sense to divert that money to real needs rather than on a project the residents don’t want and with no real justification?

This isn’t just a local matter, a squabble between residents and VDOT. Every driver and every Virginia taxpayer should demand flexibility and the application of common sense by State agencies and local government to make most effective use of limited resource. Shelve the plan to expand Rolling Road between Old Keene Mill and the Parkway. Divert the money to real needs - access to the EPG from the east (Interstate/Backlick Road side), south Rolling Road adjacent to the EPG from the County Parkway south to Fullerton Road and the area around Ft. Belvoir which will get the bulk of the BRAC personnel moves. Do the smart thing.