Don’t Pave Old Wheatland Road

By Charles Houston

Some of the residents in new subdivisions off Old Wheatland Road have signed a petition asking that the road be paved. There are 100 or so signatures, but only 59 addresses. The latter figure is the one to use. 

Paving Old Wheatland is a very bad idea for many reasons. 

A Defective Poll

The County’s Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure (DTCI) sent out its own poll, but it is defective: Respondents were asked if they preferred paving or not paving.  The poll ignored somegood alternatives to asphalt paving. 

One, using a better aggregate and binder, grading carefully and rolling the new road surface has produced superb results for test sections on Old Waterford Rd. and Purcellville Rd. Those sections are smoother, there is less dust, and this surfacing method is far less expensive than asphalt. This is a better alternative and requires less maintenance than asphalt and should please all parties. 

The DTCI poll failed to present this or other options, and polled only a very limited number of addresses; the Board of Supervisors should tell DTCI to go back and get it right.

VDOT and Waterford

While the paving issue is political at the county level, ultimate decision-making technically rests with VDOT. Commonwealth Code (33.2-332. B.2) sets out factors that VDOT must consider before paving, and local sentiment is one of them: VDOT must consider “the views of residents and owners of property adjacent to or served by such highway …”  VDOT generally defers to local government when making decisions about roads, and local government should abide by the same factors that VDOT must consider.

VDOT/DTCI tried to assess local sentiment by polling owners in new subdivisions off Old Wheatland but it failed to poll residents in Waterford. The village’s Main Street is a continuation of Old Wheatland Road, and Waterford is clearly “served by” Old Wheatland. The village’s views are critically important.

Paving Old Wheatland would be a grave problem for Waterford, a National Historic Landmark.   Numerous traffic studies have agreed that there are terrible levels of cut-through traffic in the village. Paving Old Wheatland would just make the situation much worse. 

A New and Valid Poll

DOT or DTCI must find the truth. I suspect a poll of Waterford residents would yield overwhelming opposition to paving Old Wheatland with asphalt. Residents are now preparing such a poll.

We need a new poll that offers the alternative surfacing method rather than a simplistic, binary pave-don’t pave choice, and which includes Waterford and nearby areas.  

The Truth About Old Wheatland

Old Wheatland is actually in excellent condition with few potholes, minimum washboarding, no drainage problems and a generally smooth surface. It has long straightaways which encourage fast traffic. If the road is paved, speeding over its seven blind hills would lead to catastrophic accidents.  

In actuality, nothing really needs to be done to Old Wheatland right now. However, if money is available for an alternative surfacing method, go for it.

No Debate about Safety

The pro-paving petition says that speed limits are constantly being violated now and that some traffic races along at up to 70 mph. If that’s the case, only a simpleton would assert that paving would improve the situation. Paving the road would increase the amount of traffic and worsen the speeding problem. That’s common sense and also a pointmade by the Federal Highway Administration.

Several citizens fronting on Old Wheatland have put up poignant “Slow Down” signs along the road. I feel their pain and so should every Supervisor.

Proponents of paving always claim that paved roads are safer than unpaved roads. Local facts show that this is wrong and purposefully misleading.

Routes 704, Hamiliton Station, and 698, Old Wheatland, both run from Waterford west to Route 9. I studied a VDOT tool showing crash data. Going back a few years, unpaved Old Wheatland shows only four crashes, while paved Hamilton Station Road had 22. 

It’s an easy conclusion: Paving brings more traffic, faster speeds and more accidents. Don’t pave Old Wheatland.

A Historic Tapestry

Our network of unpaved roads is a key part of the county’s identity and is an asset appreciated by every resident of the county. Think of these roads as a tapestry, and paving a road here and a road there is akin to nibbling away at that tapestry, a few threads at a time until the tapestry disappears. If we lose our unpaved road network, we lose something that makes Loudoun unique.

That tapestry of unpaved roads is a countywide asset and deserves thoughtful voting by the entire Board, individually and collectively. Paving these roads is not a district-only issue. These historic roads belong to all Loudoun citizens, and on issues affecting these byways, every Supervisor has a responsibility to care for them.   

In developing millions of square feet of office buildings for an Atlanta firm, Charles Houston never had to pave a single gravel road. He lives on an unpaved road where traffic is slow and safe.