All Roads Lead to Home

I first knew Loudoun County growing up on my father’s dream come true, Courtland Farm. It was named by my grandmother. It was where my dad courted my mother. (My father was a Washington lawyer who grew up in Texas. “Don’t Fence Me In” was his theme song.) The farm buildings are still there today. The house he built, now owned by the Pomata family, still sits on a hill with some of the most beautiful views of Loudoun County. My oldest memories of Loudoun County are driving from our home in Washington on Route 50 to the farm. Route 50 was the shortest and fastest way. Later as Fairfax County began to develop, we switched to Route 7, a two lane road that we picked up at Tysons Corner where we often gassed up at the only commercial business there, an ESSO station.

After World War II, the growth spurt, first fueled by the war, accelerated and has never stopped. Northern Virginia was home to a growing number of federal workers. In those days there was no beltway, no Interstate Highway System, and four lane roads were almost unheard of. The Eisenhower congress passed the Federal Highway bill and the automobile industry exploded. City workers could live in the county. Today not much has changed, except everything. Tyson’s Corner is now a city, larger than Washington of the 1940s. The drive from my home in Washington to the farm on Saturday morning took an hour. Today the same drive takes an hour. But then my father could leave the farm at 8 AM and be in his office at 15th and K Street by 9 AM. Try that today.

Traffic and funding roads has always been a major issue for Loudoun County and Northern Virginia. Stopping residential development, as some would like, will not solve our transportation problems. Most of our automobile traffic does not originate in Loudoun County. Much of it does not even originate in Virginia. Traffic from West Virginia, Maryland, Northwestern Virginia (Winchester, Berryville, Purcellville, Hamilton, etc.), and from the south (Manassas, Warrenton, etc.) and the developments on the land where Disney once planned a theme park, all converges at Leesburg.

What to do? We need many solutions to this transportation problem. Outside-of-the-box thinking from the private sector like the Greenway and the Route 28 special tax district are desperately needed. The State and Federal Governments will not solve this problem for us. The Dulles South CPAMs can be part of the solution. Crosstrail, Riverside Park, and maybe even Meadowbrook can be part of the solution. The developers of these properties can bring the creativity we need, and the funds we don’t have.