Help Preserve Rural Loudoun—Attend the May 7 Public Meeting

Dear Editor:

A major transportation study is underway in Loudoun County—one that could impact traffic patterns and the rural character of western Loudoun for decades to come. A public outreach session is scheduled for May 7 at Woodgrove High School, and it’s critical for anyone who wants to preserve rural Loudoun to attend, get informed, and share their perspective.

The study focuses on how to manage increasing traffic through rural Loudoun, particularly along Route 9 (Charles Town Pike), as more vehicles move in from Maryland and West Virginia.

While traffic-calming measures in Hillsboro have reduced speeds, they’ve also caused backups on Route 9, leading drivers to divert onto smaller rural roads like Cider Mill Road and Woodgrove Road. This new study will evaluate potential solutions to that issue.

The effort stems from the 2022 Route 9 Safety Study, which concluded that traffic would increasingly shift to these secondary roads. One key recommendation was to consider further traffic-calming strategies to discourage commuter traffic from cutting through these rural areas.

The Loudoun County Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure (DTCI) is leading the current study. However, the scope has since expanded—now including major road improvements and potential alignment changes aimed at accommodating even more traffic. This unintended scope creep risks bringing major infrastructure to western Loudoun that would increase traffic, degrade our rural lifestyle, and permanently alter the character of our community.

Please make time to attend the May 7 meeting. Let Loudoun County officials know that we value and want to preserve the unique rural quality of western Loudoun—and we don’t want to become a commuter thoroughfare for out-of-state drivers.

To learn more about the meeting, please click here.

John Lovegrove
Loudoun’s Future PAC