HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016_M009 Letter of Support to NVTA for Rt 7 Battlefield Interchange COUNCIL MEETING May 10, 2016
MOTION 2016-009
I authorize the Mayor to Issue a Letter of Support to Northern Virginia Regional Transit
Authority (NVTA) to Request Funding for the Interchange at Route 7 East and Battlefield
Parkway
1 I Page
Town of
David S. Butler Council Members
c.� Mayor Katie Sheldon Hammier Thomas S.Dunn,II
Fernando"Marty" Martinez
Virginia Kelly Burk Suzanne D. Fox R.Bruce Gemini11
Vice Mayor
25 West Market Street,Leesburg,VA 20176 • (703)771-2733/(703)771-2727 fax • council@leesburgva.gov • www.leesburgva.gov
May 10, 2016
The Honorable Martin Nohe
Northern Virginia Transportation Authority
3040 Williams Drive, Suite 200
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
Dear Chairman Nohe:
The Leesburg Town Council was disappointed to learn that the Route 7/Battlefield Parkway
interchange project was not included among the projects recommended for funding by the
NVTA in Fiscal Year 2017. We urge you to reconsider this decision, and offer the following
facts in support of funding this important project
The Route 7 Corridor is a major commuter route through Leesburg and Loudoun County and
continues to be one of Northern Virginia's worst bottlenecks. The Route 7 Corridor Plan calls for
the corridor to become fully limited access, from Algonkian Parkway to Leesburg. All of the
remaining at-grade intersections along that section of Route 7 are under construction or in the
planning stages for transition to grade-separated interchanges — with the exception of the
Battlefield Parkway intersection. If not funded, the Route 7/Battlefield Parkway intersection will
be the last intersection with a traffic signal from Route 28 to Berryville in Clarke County.
Further, this intersection has been consistently identified as the highest accident intersection in
Leesburg by the Leesburg Police Department, with over 450 crashes, including two fatal and 50
with personal injuries, reported since 2009. A grade-separated interchange will improve traffic
safety significantly in this area.
Finally, we would like to note that the Route 7/Battlefield Parkway interchange project is the
only one of the 24 candidate projects located in Loudoun County. Thank you for your
consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
David S. Butler
Mayor
Hometown of the 21st Century