LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 42 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ September 5, 2019 ]
■ PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES - PAGE 27 ■ NOW HIRING LOUDOUN PAGE 35 ■ RESOURCE DIRECTORY PAGE 37
County Advances Human Services Overhaul Effort BY RENSS GREENE
Patrick Szabo/Loudoun Now
Drivers wishing to cut through Hillsboro along Rt. 9 might have to find a secondary route once the town’s traffic calming project advances in the coming months.
Battle Brews Over Possibility of Rt. 9 Closure Next Year BY PATRICK SZABO & NORMAN K. STYER Hillsboro leaders are pushing ahead with a new plan to get their long-awaited Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming Project under construction after the first round of bids came in too far over budget. But the proposal is coming under fire from out-of-state commuters who could be forced to find new routes to work. Although town leaders were set to re-advertise for construction bids last Thursday, that action was delayed to al-
low the exploration of an alternative that could save millions of dollars while getting the work complete within a year— and two years earlier than expected. To accomplish those goals, the Rt. 9 work zone in the town would have to be closed entirely to through traffic for nine to 11 months, starting as early as February. That would be expected to have the greatest impact on commuters from West Virginia and Maryland, responsible for about 16,000 of the 17,000 vehicles moving through the town each day.
That option was discussed with regional public safety leaders during an Aug. 28 briefing where Hillsboro Mayor Roger Vance and other project managers sought input on challenges that would come with the plan. Rather than a dialogue on the alternatives, the meeting sparked strong objections from Clarke County leaders, who issued a statement warning that diverting Rt. 9 traffic flowing from West Virginia and Maryland RT. 9 CLOSURE >> 42
Loudoun County is seeking volunteers to help guide and implement a massive plan to revamp Loudoun human services and nonprofits over the next five years. And within 10 minutes of a press release announcing that applications were open, said Assistant County Administrator Valmarie Turner, applications started coming in. The Loudoun County Human Services Strategic Plan, unveiled in June, is a list of 103 projects around five goals over five years. Those five goals include closing service gaps for vulnerable or underserved people; addressing social determinants of health in Loudoun, the conditions under which people live and the affect those conditions have on them; integrating Loudoun’s human services to optimize access; developing and coordinating resources and funding to meet the county’s growing needs; and strengthening the community and network among human services providers in Loudoun. It was developed with work from more than 120 experts from 67 organizations, along with eight community workshops and responses from more than 400 people in an online survey. But before launching into that work, the county is looking for members of the new Loudoun County Human Services Strategic Plan Advisory Committee to guide that work. Some members of the committee—or at least the organizations they will represent—are already decided. It will include senior government staff from county departments like Family Services and the Health Department alongside nonprofit leaders, the schools, the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, and representatives OVERHAUL >> 42
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