Text of Letter:
February 19, 2018
Chairman William M. Stanley, Jr.
Senate of Virginia
Pocahontas Building
900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia
Re: Support for House Bill No. 295 amending VA Code Section 15.2-2022.1
Dear Chairman Stanley:
As the President of the McLean Citizens Association, a non-profit organization representing the interests of residents living in the McLean area, I am writing to express our strong support for legislation that is pending before your Committee – House Bill (HB) No. 295 amending the Code of Virginia to add Section 1.5.2-2022.1. This section would permit counties in the Commonwealth, by ordinance, to “develop a program to issue permits to residents of a designated area that will allow such residents to make turns into or out of the neighborhood during certain times of the day where such turns would otherwise be restricted.”
The MCA believes this legislation is critically important because it would allow counties, such as Fairfax County, to take measures to limit the ability of non-residents to drive through neighborhoods in order to avoid congestion on major thoroughfares. For example, in the McLean Area, many cars attempt to bypass the backup that routinely occurs on I-495 by cutting through local McLean residential streets and intersections. A considerable number of residents in areas abutting Georgetown Pike in McLean and Great Falls report extreme difficulties even getting out of their neighborhoods as cars back up for miles snaking through residential side roads. We believe this cut-through traffic has been exacerbated by Apps like Waze, which prompt commuters to take side routes to avoid the backup. This congestion is having a fundamental impact on the quality of life of McLean-area residents.
Although -- in the long run, more comprehensive measures, such as expansion of the American Legion Bridge between Virginia and Maryland will be needed to alleviate transportation deficiencies -- your support for HB. No. 295 would greatly help to address a
pressing transportation concern that is adversely affecting a large number of Virginia residents in our area.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
Dale M. Stein
President, McLean Citizens Association
President@McLeanCitizens.org
cc:
Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
David W. Marsden
Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr.
Scott A. Surovell
William R. DeSteph, Jr.
Siobhan S. Dunnavant
Amanda F. Chase
Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.
Jeremy S. McPike
Charles W. Carrico, Sr.
Jennifer L. McClellan