Rt. 9 congestion needs traffic circles

Dear Editor

It has been four years since Hillsboro initiated its transitional traffic-calming plan by replacing the town’s traffic light at the intersection of Route 9 (Charles Town Pike) and Hillsboro Road with a Round-About traffic circle. The result has been the elimination of traffic jams at that junction, especially for the 17,000 commuters that pass through the village every day.

Unforunately, three miles later the traffic regularly has to stop and gets backed up in four directions at the intersection of Berlin Turnpike and Route 9. Delays of two to even ten minutes are not uncommon. There has been a “plan on the books” to place a Round-About traffic circle both at this choke point and farther east at Hamilton Station Road and Route 9. But that’s all it is – a talking point.

Compounding the commuter problem is another unnecessary traffic light at the intersection of Harpers Ferry Road and Route 9 to the west of Hillsboro. A traffic circle would be perfect there.

After four-to-five years of excuses and bureaucratic dithering, the flow of 17,000 commuters is still unnecessarily stalled on a major route that should be continually moving from the West Virginia border all the way to the intersection of Routes 9 and 7 near Paeonian Springs.

In casual and separate conversations I have had at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro with both Board of Supervisor Phyllis Randall and Catoctin District Supervisor Caleb Kershner, both officials indicated the Board is “working the issue” but could provide no firm timetable for when the Round-Abouts will be started or completed, if ever.

Earlier this month, I spent a week in southern France in the rural areas of Avignon and Provence, driving around an area roughly the size of Loudoun County. Over one three-day period, visiting numerous villages in a thirty-mile radius, we encountered not a single traffic light.  All, yes all, the intersections both large and small were Round-Abouts that kept traffic flowing and not congested. If it worked in Provence, it could work in Loudoun County.

There is no good reason why Rt. 9 traffic congestion in Loudoun County cannot be remedied by the immediate placement of three traffic circles at Harpers Ferry Road, Berlin Turnpike, and Hamilton Station Road.  After four-to-five years, the Board of Supervisors needs to stop talking, drop the excuses, and start acting.

Dr. William (Chip) Beck
Hillsboro