New Gainesville supervisor holds town hall meeting

The crowd that gathered at Alvey Elementary School on Thursday night easily topped 250 people.

They came to hear what newly minted Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, had to say during his first town-hall style meeting.

Candland told the crowd that he would be concentrating on the budget, keeping the U.S. 29-Linton Hall interchange on track for completion, making sure the Gainesville Library stayed in the county budget and ushering in the new hospital scheduled to open on Heathcote Boulevard.

Residents came to the podium to ask questions, which mostly revolved around a new traffic light at Waverly Farm Drive and U.S. 15.

People mostly wanted to know when the intersection was going to be open and when the light would go in.

The Virginia Department of Transportation initially determined that no light was necessary at the intersection, but Candland got together with Virginia Dels. Timothy D. Hugo, Robert G. Marshall and David I. Ramadan, as well as Virginia Sen. Dick Black and convinced the department that the intersection would be dangerous without a signal.

"This has been an issue that has been on my radar ever since the election," Candland said.

The crowd erupted with applause when Candland announced VDOT's decision to authorize a light at the intersection.

Candland read from a VDOT letter that the department would work as "expeditiously as possible" to get the light installed.

“I think this is a great example of a community coming together."It's a great example of elected officials coming together to improve the quality of life here in western Prince William County," Candland said.

To help with some of the questions, Candland brought together a panel that included representatives from VDOT, the developer Toll Brothers and the Western Prince William County Homeowners Alliance.

Mac Haddow, president of the homeowners alliance, said he wanted the light installation to be on the "rocket docket," and that the light would be installed in a couple of months.

Mark Simms, the vice president of land development for Toll Brothers, told the crowd there are a lot of moving parts involved in getting a light installed, but he said he expected it to take at least 20 weeks, if everything went smoothly.

Simms reminded the crowd that traffic studies had to be done, plans had to be submitted, designs had to be drawn, light poles had to be manufactured and a raft of other details had to be attended to before a signal can go in, but VDOT had committed to putting the signal at the "top of the list" for review.

"All sorts of fine details have to be worked out and we're going through that process," Simms said.

Simms said his discussions with public safety officials, engineers, supervisors and county officials indicate that the road should stay closed until at least the end of the school year.

"We think it is probably in the best interest of the traveling public to keep the road closed until such time as the signal is ready to operate," Simms said.

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.