Virginia’s 2nd & 4th Largest Jurisdictions Connected Largely By Narrow Rural Roads
Virginia’s 2nd & 4th Largest Jurisdictions Connected Largely by Narrow Rural Roads
The University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center’s latest data shows that Prince William County (455,000) is now Virginia’s second most populous jurisdiction and Loudoun County (396,000) its fourth.
Since 2000 Loudoun County has added 226,000 residents and Prince William County 175,000 residents. (The District of Columbia added 122,000).
Loudoun’s and Prince William’s combined 2040 population is projected to exceed 1,000,000.
Yet, Northern Virginia’s two most populous counties are connected largely by two-lane rural roads (including gravel Peach Orchard Road which crosses a creek that must be forded when it rains) with frustratingly slow travel times.
Route 28 between Manassas and I-66 in Fairfax needs additional lanes and may get them. However, future demand greatly exceeds the number of lanes that can realistically be added in that corridor. And Route 28 does not connect most Prince William and Central Loudoun communities.
Which is why the Bi-County and/or Tri-County Parkways are needed to divert traffic off Route 28 and around Manassas/Manassas Park and improve major employment center and Dulles Airport access.