Morven Park Road project can now move forward

By Audrey Carpenter

The last homeowners who would have delayed the road improvement project for Morven Park in Leesburg last week acquiesced and decided to give their blessing to the project.

Out of 28 owners who would be affected by the Morven Park Road upgrade, only one couple,
David and Renee Pillor, had not yet signed the paperwork, and came to the Nov. 14 Leesburg
Town Council meeting asking for consideration to either delay the improvement project or have
their individual property not included in the overall project.

A 100-year-old stone wall at the entranceway to their home is the reason the Pillors did not want curbs put in front of their property and were hesitant to sign the same paperwork the other owners had already signed allowing the Town to to take a portion of owners’ front yards for road improvements.

The project consists of constructing missing segments of sidewalk along the west side of Morven Park Road to provide continuous pedestrian access between West Market Street and Old Waterford Road. The project will improve drainage and provide a uniform roadway section by completing the curb and gutter on both sides of the street and extending the storm drain system.

The waterline will be replaced between West Market Street and Old Waterford Road, as well as
on Old Waterford Road, at the request of the Utilities Department.

An artist’s rendering shows how the curb would look in front of the stone wall at the Pillor’s
property. “We really wanted to preserve the historic value and feel of the wall and community,”
Renee Pillor said. Encroaching so close to the historic wall concerned the couple.

David Pillor said ultimately, “We didn’t want to take the Town through a lengthy process,” by
continuing to try and negotiate with the Town, so the couple put the issue to rest by signing the
required paperwork to move the project forward.

The plans for the project first began in 2014 when the Town held a meeting with the owners and
collected information from a questionnaire as to what they would like to see done to improve
Morven Park Road. Ten years later, fall of 2024, was the target date for full completion of the
project. As of February 28, 2023, construction of the waterline portion of the project has been
completed.

With the proposed improvements, on-street parking will be retained where it is currently
permitted, said project manager Tom Brandon. There is currently on-street parking on Morven
Park Road at the following locations:

West side from West Market Street to immediately north of William Street,
East side along the Heritage Hall frontage,
Both sides south of Ayrlee Avenue, and
West side between Ayrlee Avenue and Morven Park Court

All of this existing on-street parking will remain with the improvements.

Although there currently are no ‘No Parking’ signs along the remainder of the street, it is
currently impossible to park on the existing shoulder without intruding into the travel lanes. That situation will continue with the new curb and gutter – parking will not be allowed where the car would extend into the travel lane, Brandon said.

Early in the project development, the public was provided an opportunity to comment on
providing additional on-street parking as part of this project. The consensus at that time was that the residents preferred to keep the parking where it currently exists, but they did not wish for the project to add any more on-street parking.”