Haymarket Bypass stagnant as developments stay flat

In January 2008, a the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 7-1 to approve rezoning requests for the areas of land now known as Haymarket Landing and the UVA-Foundation property, both located to the south of the Town of Haymarket.

Part of the deal stated that when the developers JCE Inc (Haymarket Landing) and the University of Virginia convert the land from vacant woods to 210 houses, a proffer amendment would kick in. When a pre-requisite amount of houses are sold, the developers, in turn, would construct the Haymarket Bypass to run as a secondary artery with part of the goal being to reduce traffic on James Madison Highway (U.S. 15) at high-congestion areas.

Well, there's no houses yet. In fact, you're more likely to find deer than land surveyors in the area. And that means the Haymarket Bypass is stuck in the concept phase until the housing market recovers well enough that demand for new property in western Prince William County surges again.

In the third quarter of 2007, just months before the county's votes on the rezonings, the average home price for a detached single-family dwelling in Haymarket was over $600,000. Now, multiple Web sites have the price listed at under $400,000.

At the time of the votes, Supervisor Frank Prinicipi (D-Woodbridge) said it could be up to five years before any development begins. At its current rate of development, Principi may have underestimated it.

As for how long a wait until there's movement on the ground on the developments and $3.3 million road, that's anyone's guess according to county planning director Stephen Griffin.

"The development has grinded to a halt just about," he said.

Griffin explained that the project is "really tied to those two developments, and they're the ones that basically need it as much as that area of the county needs it and we didn't want them to come out of any of the exiting roads without this being built."

Supervisor Wally Covington (R-Brentsville), who voted in favor of the developments, said he had a recent meeting to discuss the properties and did not have much new to report.

Speaking about the housing market "shrinking up," he said it "trended down until some time last year." Once it substantially picks up again, "that will lead to this development getting off the ground."

The situation with the Haymarket Bypass is identical to the one regarding the proposed connection road between Gravely ES and U.S. 15. Until Toll Brothers sells enough units of its Dominion Valley development, the construction trigger will not go into effect. Also like parts of U.S. 15, proffer money is responsible for road construction which means it is not financed by the county's general fund.

That's a sticking point Griffin emphasized by simply saying "no" when asked about the county financing the project.

"It's financed through the two rezonings," he said. "It's a matter of them waiting for the market to be strong enough for them to be ready to start building some of the units."

Where the county may have a future roll is in eminent domain requests and further archeological work.

"A lot of times, if (developers) can't come to terms with an off-site property owner, the county will work with them on that behalf," said Griffin, referring to eminent domain. "If it's taking somebody business away, that would be more ugly. In this case, it's only corners of pieces of property out there that are largely vacant."

County archaeologist Justin Patton said there is an archeological site within the alignment for the Haymarket Bypass, "but as far as I know it's not holding up the project."

The site, which stems back to either the 18th or 19th century, is the remains of a "single domestic occupation" such as a house, below the ground surface.

"As it stands right now, I don't think they can avoid that site so it has to be excavated," he said.

An archeological survey and evaluation were both conducted during the rezoning application request, according to Patton. That means the next step once construction is ready to begin, would be digging.

The bypass is designed to significantly alter Haymarket Drive, a roughly 1.5-mile stretch that connects U.S. 15 to Old Carolina Road just south of the train tracks at the base of the Town of Haymarket.

Part of that road is gravel and part of it is paved. When the bypass comes along, structures will be built in and around parts of it and connect with Old Carolina Road. That sparks a debate between county and town officials about what exactly that will do to traffic.

According to Covington, the road will be built in phases in a manner similar to Linton Hall Road where two lanes are opened on one side while two more lanes are being built on the other side. Then traffic can use the two new lanes while the two old lanes are redone. When everything's done, the Haymarket Bypass would have four lanes.

The supervisor explained that commuters heading south from Dominion Valley would stay on U.S. 15 until they reached the bypass instead of cutting through town to reach it at Old Carolina Road because it's out of their way.

"If you're a commuter, you're going to go around the town," he said, mentioning that the town is a "destination route" instead of a drive-through area due to the traffic light at Jefferson Street, which links the northern part of Old Carolina Road to its southern part.

The speed limit through Washington Street (Route 55), which runs through the heart of the town, is 25 mph. Covington said he thought the town "has done the right thing" by making the road a "slow down area."

Haymarket Town Council members Bob Weir and John Cole had different assesments. Weir said Covington's assertion that traffic headed down U.S. 15 would go straight to the bypass without cutting through town neglects the affect of traffic being backed up at the intersections of Route 55 and the Interstate 66 interchange.

Frustrated commuters are then inclined to turn left on to Heathcote Boulevard and turn right on Old Carolina Road, leading them through town. According to Weir, that happens much more than Covington acknowledged.

"That is an unrealistic assessment of the traffic conditions in that area," said Weir. "By throwing more houses in that sector, he's just going to compound the problem. The bypass is no magic bullet."

Weir said the amount of people moving into the area when the developments are bought out will mitigate whatever effect the bypass was meant to have on traffic relief.

"You're just creating more congestion on the arterial roads. Your major roads are going to be more congested because of the houses you're putting in there, the real estate development you're putting there," he said.

Comments authored by Weir on behalf of the Town of Haymarket and sent to the county in 2008 prior to the rezoning votes included concerns about traffic, site development, cultural resources, schools, deed restrictions, the comprehensive plan, fire and rescue (a fire station along Antioch Road has since opened), public safety and transportation among other topics.

Cole said that when he first moved to Haymarket seven years ago, "we didn't have much traffic (issues) in the middle of town."

That was right about the same time the bypass was first being considered. Since then, "traffic has increased through town," Cole said, adding that he thinks there should be an updated traffic study whenever the bypass is back up for serious discussions.

According to Griffin, just because the project is stationary does not mean it's dead.

"We have absolutely not had any indication that they're not going forward," he said, explaining that included in the proffer is an elementary school site and the dedication of a historic site on the property. "So there was other public uses proposed in conjunction with it as well."

Assessing the effect the bypass will have on traffic, Cole said, "I think pretty much it's a toss up."

He encouraged citizens to talk to their county representatives about the bypass in the mean time to voice any concerns they may have about the bypass before the developments are built out.

"That's the right of the people, to be heard," he said.