Canby Road to remain unpaved after community feedback

By Tabitha Reeves

Canby Road, home to rural neighborhoods and passionate Leesburg residents, was up for discussion on whether or not a 300-foot portion of the road should be paved, resulting in three community meetings, many email chains and a well-attended Board of Supervisors public hearing on July 12.

After pushback against paving, Supervisor Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) sent an email to residents of Canby Road on August 30 announcing that he is removing the road from the Secondary Road Six-Year Plan and the agenda of the September 13 BOS meeting.

The decision came shortly after the community presented a neighborhood survey to the BOS which showed that 65% of residents were anti-paving. 11% abstained, 12% were not contacted and 12% favored paving.

“Once you pave a road and change something, it’s changed forever,” Randall said. “So it’s really important that if we make these changes to rural and historic places that we darn sure better know that we’re doing it because we absolutely have to for life, health, safety, and not just for convenience.”

The road, which meets East Colonial Highway and Harmony Church Road on either side, already has paved segments at each end. The paving proposal outlined intentions to extend the paved portion by 300 feet on the East Colonial Highway side – just past a development called Longview Crest Place – with an estimated cost of $300,000.

Despite Canby Road having been part of the Six-Year Plan since May 12, 2021, locals were not formally made aware that their road might be paved.

On December 13, 2022, Longview Crest Place resident Jarrad Smith sent an email to Kershner requesting that a portion of Canby Road be considered for paving. Smith cited safety concerns among the citizens of Longview Crest Place.

“I am familiar with Canby Road and the state of the road in general. I was able to add it to the Six-Year Rural Road plan last year,” Kershner responded, referring to the public hearing on June 15, 2022.

On January 3, following an email chain discussion between Kershner, Smith and other Longview Crest Place residents, Kershner wrote, “Maintenance is not a solution and at this point I need best suggestions to remedy this situation as soon as possible.”

The Loudoun County Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure administered a poll to 12 homes in Longview Crest Place, where all surveyed residents responded favorably to paving. The president of the Longview Crest Place Homeowners Association, whose home is on Canby Road across from the neighborhood, was left out of the survey.

Canby Road as a whole has approximately 120 homes, which, unless located in Longview Crest Place, were not formally surveyed by the county despite the fact that they live on the road.

Informed by word-of-mouth and informal emails that the issue was to be discussed again at the July 12 BOS public hearing, various locals of differing opinions showed up to share their perspective.

Many expressed dissatisfaction that they were not notified by Kershner or otherwise of the potential paving. However, aside from frustrations over the communication towards locals, citizens along Canby Road took the opportunity to share why or why not they think their road should be hard-surfaced. 

Resident Chris Fennell said that the process has not been transparent, noting that paving is “not reversible.”

“We moved to Canby Road to cherish the environment,” Fennell said. “Not change it.”

Some characterized constant potholes of the current gravel road as a hazard, while others believed that they benefit the community by slowing down traffic.

“I understand that everybody’s focused right now on the potholes slowing cars down, but I want to call attention to the fact that … a significant amount of residents have school-aged children,” Smith said, explaining that a hard-surfaced road in front of Longview Crest Place would be safer for their kids.

Smith went on to recall witnessing cars swerving and driving on the wrong side of the road or into the grass to avoid potentially dangerous spots. 

Many attested that the Virginia Department of Transportation completes upkeep and sends trucks to re-gravel Canby Road year-round, but Smith believes that the road is not repaired “as timely as everyone thinks.”

“I think the county’s been very responsible about making repairs to that road, but the issues are significant,” another resident, Lori Campbell, said. “It’s not just a couple potholes. I think that there are huge safety concerns at this point.”

On March 26, Mitch Diamond, active member of the Rural Roads Committee, informed the email chain containing Kershner, Smith and others that he drove the length of Canby Road and saw very few small potholes.

“For the vast majority of the drive the road seemed to be level and normal and fully drivable,” Diamond wrote.

In addition to talking about potholes during the hearing, those who were pro-paving also said that a gravel or dirt road causes their vehicles to become dirty much faster, which is inconvenient and costly to keep up with.

When sharing her thoughts, Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) compared some speakers to those who move into a house nearby Dulles International Airport and then complain about the airplane noise.

“Most people, when they move in, they don’t move in with the promise that their road is going to be paved,” Randall said.

Rural roads are a part of the charm and history of rural Loudoun County, according to Randall. Her general support of gravel roads was echoed by many Canby Road locals.

“I don’t believe the paving should extend even one foot, much less all the way down the road,” Citizen Pete Barker said. “I don’t favor turning the neighborhood into a classic suburban.”

Along Canby Road live various equestrians and their horses, dog owners, parents with children, bicyclists and joggers who appreciate the ability to walk down their road knowing that they can hear any vehicle coming and that cars will go slower driving down gravel.

“We are on Canby Road every day … We walk our dog there and I will say that those potholes, which a lot of people have complained about, are a godsend,” Canby Road resident Robert Meeks said. “This is what stops more people coming down those roads.”

Robert Muller, who lives where the asphalt ends and the gravel begins, shared a similar sentiment to Meeks. He described the potholes as a “saving grace” to prevent speeding and cut-through traffic when Route 7 gets backed up during rush hour or due to an accident.

“This paving plan will just move those potholes 300 feet further down and I’m not sure that’s the best conception of this,” Meeks said.

During the public hearing, Supervisor Michael Turner (D-Ashburn) pointed out that there are certain prerequisite criteria to approve a rural rustic road for paving, the final one being that “the citizens along the road should support the improvement.”

Later, Supervisor Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) made a motion that, in the future, staff should be directed to formally poll all residents and present the results to the BOS. The motion passed 9-0.

On August 16, the community held a meeting with Kershner in attendance where the details of the plan were discussed with Canby Road locals.

Of the estimated 35 meeting attendees, four citizens of Longview Crest Place announced their favoritism towards the plan, reiterating reasons of safety and convenience in advocacy for hard-surfacing.

Addressing concerns about children being harmed by potholes near bus stops, one resident introduced herself as a former bus driver and explained that Loudoun County bus drivers or parents can easily complete a report of road condition safety if they notice substantial danger for minors.

Others who spoke up during the meeting expressed their desire to leave Canby Road gravel and for VDOT to continue routine maintenance.

Though much recent contention has been over Canby Road specifically, the Secondary Road Six-Year Plan outlines a construction program to hard-surface not only Canby Road, but also segments of Goshen Road, Hogback Mountain Road, John Wolford Road and Old Wheatland Road.

“With a lot of our rural rustic roads, the road itself is historic, so we have to be really careful what we do and how we do it,” Randall said.