It will be another five months before the northern most part of Waverly Farm Drive in Haymarket is finally connected to the southbound lane of U.S. 15.

During a town hall meeting at Alvey Elementary School in the Dominion Valley subdivision last Thursday, Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland (R) and officials from the residential development company Toll Brothers said plans call for a stop light to first be installed before the road will be open to public.

That light is one reason why the intersection has not opened more than two years after Toll Brothers targeted its completion.

More than 200 people attended the two hour meeting in the school gymnasium and the consensus among them was that a light was needed for safety reasons given that U.S. 15 has a 55 mph speed limit.

"The citizens here in Prince William County wanted this light," said Candland, a freshman supervisor elected in November holding his first town hall meeting since taking office this month.

Candland credited the regional delegation to Richmond, particularly Del. Tim Hugo (R-40), for working with the Virginia Department of Transportation in order to bump up the installation date of the light from 2014 to 2012.

It also just so happens that VDOT is headed by former Prince William Board of County Supervisors chairman Sean Connaughton, a Triangle resident twice elected county-wide with big support from western Prince William voters.

Among the panelists joining Candland at the meeting were Mark Simms and Greg Leygraaf of Toll Brothers, Maria Sinner of VDOT, Tom Blaser from the county's transportation department and local activist Mac Haddow, a former state legislator from Utah and current federal lobbyist who serves as president of the newly created Western Prince William County Homeowners Alliance.

Simms told the audience that Toll Brothers is now in the "design process" for the completion of the intersection and light.

That includes reviewing details for signs, spacing and road stripping.

"We can't do everything at once," he said.

As for opening the road to traffic with a functioning traffic signal before school begins at nearby Ronald Reagan Middle School this fall, Simms said he is "very confident that we'll be able to do that," given that Toll Brothers is able to "shave" months off of the project.

"It's going to get done," he added. "It's going to take 20 weeks from now."

The intersection will stay closed until the end of this school year "when this thing's ready to be turned on," he said.

Simms mentioned in an interview afterward that, "It's our hope that it will be open before school opens in September."

Candland appeared intrigued the suggestion of the first questioner of the evening, who recommended installing a right-turn-only lane from U.S. 15 south as an access point to Waverly Farm Drive in the meantime.

"I think that's a great point," said Candland. "I think that's possible."

When another person asked who would be held accountable for the timely opening of the project, Candland took ownership.

"As your elected representative, that would be me," he said. "You have my commitment that I will continue to apply pressure to make sure this is done in a timely fashion."

However, Dwayne Machosky of Evergreen wanted to know why there had not been a solid plan in place to open the intersection earlier, citing how one of his children is often falls asleep by the end of an hour-long bus ride from Gravely each day.

"There was never a plan to open it?" asked Machosky.

"Eventually," replied Simms.

"That's a typical Toll Brothers answer," retorted Machosky.

The local resident said in a follow-up interview that while he's happy the light is going up, he's upset that it's "not getting done quick enough," calling the current situation an "appeasement."

Frank Milihram of Longview Estates also wanted to know why it "seems we keep getting behind the 8-ball" when it comes to opening the area.

"Why are we having to address this?" he asked.

"There was an answer. I don't know if I like the answer, but there was definitely an answer," replied Candland.

The supervisor supported the suggestion of one question who recommended making two right-hand turning lanes available, one to access U.S. 15 from Waverly Farm Drive and another to access Waverly Farm Drive from the southbound lane of U.S. 15.

"(I'll) sit down with VDOT, the county and Toll [Brothers] and make that happen," said Candland.

Audience members applauded on several occasions during general speeches and question-and-answer segments as more information came out about the pending opening of the road.

However, not everyone in attendance left satisfied that the representatives from Toll Brothers adequately addressed their concerns.

Simms stressed that this is actually an early opening for the road and that the company is in no way obligated to open the intersection to traffic at the present time.

That is due to a proffer agreement stating that Toll Brothers needed to sell a certain number of homes in the Dominion Valley development before triggers were set to enact different obligations the company had to the county in return for being able to build in that part of Haymarket.

In a 2008 interview however, Maureen Hannan, the supervisor of land acquisition and capital improvement projects for the Prince William school division, said that a file she read from Toll Brothers, dated October 2007, set a goal for the Waverly Farm Drive extender as late 2009.

Since Gravely Elementary School opened in the fall of 2008, an untold amount of taxpayer money has gone into funding fuel for school buses heading to and from the school the could have been cut with a functioning intersection open to traffic.

Instead of traveling just over a third of a mile to the U.S. 15 intersection, buses intending to access James Madison Highway have been forced to travel virtually the entire distance of Waverly Farm Drive and turn left on Dominion Valley Road, a distance of 2.7 miles.

It's about another mile north to reach the would-be intersection adjacent to Park Valley Church, the neighboring property to Gravely ES to the east.

Due to the proffer agreement though, Toll Brothers was not legally obligated to open that intersection.

So the question at this point is whether the current goal of opening the road with a traffic light will actually be completed on time.

Candland said that opening the intersection on time is "our absolute main goal.

"I'm going to apply as much pressure as the office of supervisor can do," he said.