This little story is worth mentioning.
Tammy and Steven Pyle’s daughter decided to be born at rush hour. And that brought the Round Hill couple face to face with the harsh reality of Loudoun County traffic.
Due to some complications with the birth, Tammy had to be taken to Loudoun Hospital Center in Lansdowne via ambulance. Luckily, the sea of vehicles on Route 7 parted just enough to let her through.
The father-to-be, who tried to follow the ambulance in his car, wasn’t so lucky. “He was absolutely frantic … he almost missed the birth,” said Tammy.
Steve Pyle made the 20-mile trip in about an hour.
Increasingly, folks in places like Loudoun County, where growth is exploding are using the public safety argument to make the case for transportation investment, i.e., higher taxes to build roads and transit systems that will ease traffic congestion. The story above is actually one of the more benign. Loudoun officials have told some residents there that they fear if traffic isn’t addressed soon, there will increasing incidents of ambulances unable to get critical patients to the hospital. That will likely make young couples who are streaming into the fastest growing county in the country afraid that their children or aging parents will not be able to get treated in a timely manner. And if you’ve ever sat on Route 7 almost any time of day, you can imagine the unimaginable.