Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-05-07 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Loudoun County residents surveyed last year labeled traffic congestion the top complaint about their way of life, passing the county’s rapid growth as the biggest local gripe. Whether slogging through the stop-and-go traffic of morning commutes or long delays driving to the store on the weekends, county leaders say the vote is no surprise.

“You ought to come out on Saturday or Sunday, the traffic is worse than rush hour,” said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York, I-at large, adding all elected officials have been well aware of that concern for years.

“Drivers turn the radio on and try to relax, that’s all you can do,” said Supervisor Jim Burton, I-Blue Ridge. “I think we’re looking at an extended period where people will have to accept congestion as a way of life if people move far away from where they work.”

Loudoun leaders are pushing for state transportation funding to help address a laundry list of essential projects to smooth daily nightmares on Routes 7, 15 and 28, hoping for more money from an upcoming legislative session.

The survey reflected that as growth has cooled, residents are establishing greater ties in the county, with a low of 18 percent saying they moved to the county in the last three years. Just 7 percent of survey respondents were born in the county.

After years of a prolonged housing boom that made the county one of the nation’s fastest growing, new construction is slowing and residents are settling in for extended commuting times. The survey said 24 percent of households have at least one person who now works at home.

Short of telecommuting, the county’s drivers have to keep complaining to get more action from the state, federal and local governments, officials said. “They can grouse, and they have every right to do that and I think that’s the only way things are going to change,” said Supervisor Stevens Miller, D-Dulles.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com