Christmas and New Year fall on Sunday this year therefore normal trash service will not be interrupted. Pickups will occur as normal on the following Monday. Christmas trees will be picked up on either pickup day beginning Monday, December 26th. The trees must have all ornaments, lights and tinsel removed. Please do not place the tree in a plastic bag. Trees over 6′ 6″ must be cut in half.
In early August, 2011 many residents of Hunters Ridge received a letter entitled “Stop Purcell Superhighway” from an individual who lives on Purcell Road. The letter claimed that a recently approved 4-lane expansion of a section of Purcell Road at the intersection with Route 234 (Dumfries Road) was a precursor for the continued extension of Purcell Road through Hunters Ridge to the Prince William Parkway utilizing Peaks Mill Drive as depicted in the County’s long-term Comprehensive Plan. Obviously many Hunters Ridge residents receiving this letter are concerned that our community will be divided by a highway and all of the negative ramifications of that. The facts are markedly different.
The Hunters Ridge HOA contacted Marty Nohe, our County Supervisor, by e-mail and asked him to explain the facts surrounding any planned long-term highway expansion and to further explain any immediate highway projects discussed in the letter mailed to the community. Mr. Nohe immediately called one of our Board members and spent nearly 45 minutes providing the facts. Mr. Nohe’s comments are as follows:
“The County’s Long Range Comprehensive Plan has for at least 15 years shown a plan to connect the Prince William Parkway to Dumfries Road at points north of Hoadly Road as part of a road network that would be needed to support intra-county transportation when we eventually reach full build-out. Specifically, the plan shows that Purcell Road could eventually be widened between Dumfries Road and Cornwell Drive and then connected into Peaks Mill Road and extended out to the Parkway. It is important to remember however that this plan is just theoretical, insofar as no complete right of way has been identified to allow this connector. Further, this plan has never been funded either at the state or County level and remains unfunded in the most recently approved 5-year capital budget. In fact, if plans were to proceed for this road, it would be nearly impossible to actually build the road as it is shown on the plan, because of the difficult terrain and many environmentally sensitive areas that would have to be overcome. I can assure you that even though the road has appeared in the Comprehensive Plan for many years there is no intent to proceed with this in the foreseeable future. The road is simply not needed as Hoadly Road has more than enough capacity to carry the traffic between Dumfries Road and the Parkway, and given the County’s and Virginia’s current fiscal situation, there would not be any funding available to build a road like this even if we wanted to. To be clear, there is no funding for a widening of Purcell Road that would connect to Peaks Mill, there have been no requests for that funding, and no one is pursuing it as an option. The road that is shown in the Comprehensive Plan really does exist just for traffic modeling purposes to demonstrate what could happen to other roads such as Hoadly Road if we do not address transportation needs as the county grows.
In terms of the current plans to expand Purcell Road at Route 234; the expansion referred to in the letter that Hunters Ridge residents received is the result of Stimulus money received by VDOT, not Prince William County. VDOT unilaterally has chosen to widen Purcell Road for approximately ¼ of a mile beginning at Route 234 and extending to the end of proffered and deeded right-of-way provided by the developer of the Vista Brooke community. No right-of-way exists on Purcell Road beyond this extension. VDOT is managing this expansion without the County’s involvement.”
Based on Mr. Nohe’s explanation of the facts, it appears the letter received was designed to illicit signatures for a petition. Homeowners can decide individually whether to sign the petition. Mr. Nohe did indicate that he is open to changing the Comprehensive Plan. In
fact, Mr. Nohe recently proposed to the entire Board of Supervisors that a review of the Comprehensive Plan be undertaken. The Board agreed with Mr. Nohe’s suggestion and recently gave direction to the Planning Commission to hold a series of work sessions on this issue, to consider whether the Comprehensive Plan should be amended. They will be taking up this issue in the late autumn or early winter. The HOA will be notified when those sessions are to take place and will have someone in attendance. Mr. Nohe has been invited to the Hunters Ridge General Membership meeting to be held at the Buckhall VFD at 7:00 on November 17, 2011.
You may have noticed recently double yellow lines in the crossover of the Prince William Parkway at Coloriver Road. The HOA has received numerous complaints over the years regarding vehicles impatiently pulling into this crossover when another car is already waiting to merge onto the Parkway from the crossover. This illegal and dangerous practice was reviewed with both the police and VDOT to determine what, if anything, could be done to stop the practice. Thus far the intersection does not qualify for a stoplight. In lieu of a stoplight, the police will watch the intersection more closely and ticket violators. VDOT painted double yellow stripes to assist drivers in safely crossing over the Parkway…. one vehicle at a time! Avoid a fine and help reduce the danger of this intersection by waiting for the vehicle in the crossover to clear before pulling out.