As I mentioned here and here, I attended the final public hearing for the study of closing US-29 and VA 234 at the Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The following text is my paraphrasing of comments made by citizens who chose to speak. I was trying to listen and understand as well as take notes, so they are strictly my interpretation of what was said. For that reason (plus the lack of people's names), I've not attributed the comments.

The comments are categorized into loose types. Lillian Kafka of the Potomac News covers the hearing here.

Dump D, Fix G

• "Don't waste our money. Do the fixes now."
• "Plan "D" harms neighbors."
• "Plan "D" will encourage heavy truck traffic through neighborhoods in Sudley Springs."
• "G makes the best sense."
• "Plan D impacts the historical NW corner of the park, the site of the Union retreat at Second Manassas."
• "D is a developer's dream."
• "A northern bypass encircles and strangles the battlefield. The surroundings will be destroyed to save the middle."

Costs

• "No available funds for the actual project."
• "Tragic waste of public money."

Opportunity

• "This is the chance to get real Federal funding that can help fix a real traffic problem that we have now."
• "This is a chance to make a long-term plan for the protection of the park, even if there's no money today to do all of it."
• "We need to fix I-66. East-West commuting is the problem, not North-South."
• "Think of preserving habitat. Widen I-66."

Pragmatism

• "I-66 is already the bypass for the Battlefield, why do we need another?"
• "Attendance at the Battlefield is not impacted by traffic. Why make a bypass?
• "We should address current realities, and not blindly follow the plans made almost two decades ago."
• "No need to close perfectly good roads."
• "The 1988 legislation funded only a study, not the construction."
• "No efforts have been made to close major roads in Gettysburg, Antietam, or Chancellorsville."
• "Battlefield attendance is down because interest in the Civil War is down."
• "We should be doing retro-active EIS on other projects to see how we did the first time around. It would be an eye-opener."
• "All of US-29 down to Florida is four-lane, except for this four miles in the park."

We Love The Battlefield

• "It is essential that we close US-29, to protect this magnificent park."
• "Must protect the Battlefield, no action is not a modern choice."
• "But how do homeowners who live in the park get in and out if the roads are closed?"
• "Traffic is a distraction at the Battlefield."
• "Schools don't educate about the Civil War. This park is a tremendous jewel."
• "The area has tremendous tourism potential if we save Civil War site."

Wonkiness

• "The scope of the study is inherently flawed. The environmental impacts are not fully measured.
• "Minimize impervious surfaces."
• "The EIS is flawed without considering the Tri-County Parkway. The cumulative environmental impacts must be studied."
• "We have no data on the real impact of co-location. We should quantify the real impact with a study." [I thought that's what we're doing here. Ed.]

Suspicion

• "These plans were cooked up in the dark of the night in Washington, DC."
• "There's no organic mandate for this large expenditure to consultants."
• "It's all a pipe dream."
• "This is all preparation for the Western Bypass, the Outer Beltway."
• "The cure is worse than the disease."
• "Local officials over the years are to blame for traffic problems."
• "Don't forget we are using the power of the government to displace people with power of eminent domain."
• "D lays the groundwork for the Western Bypass."
• "Don't be fooled, people. This is preparation for the Western Bypass. Don't treat us as fools."

Strange

• "With the price of gas, you shouldn't double the length of the drive through the park."
• "Businesses bring people, not developers."
• "Don't underestimate the restorative powers of a walk in nature. It's your children's heritage."
• "We have technology to create wetlands."
• "Don't forget the war. US-29 might have to be used as an evacuation route. We'll be doing triage on the Battlefield."

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