Safety Audit - Evergreen Mills Road and Watson Road

Overview

Evergreen Mills Road (Route 621) is a two-lane undivided roadway that provides east-west (non-tolled) access from Route 15 to Loudoun County Parkway. Watson Road (Route 860) is a two-lane undivided roadway that provides a north-south connection from U.S. Route 50 to Evergreen Mills Road.

These roads carry relatively high levels of traffic during peak hours, as it provides an alternate route to James Monroe Highway (Route 15), John Mosby Highway (Route 50), the Dulles Greenway (Route 267), and Loudoun County Parkway (Route 606).

Safety Audit

A road safety audit was conducted in 2017 and 2018 to examine Evergreen Mills Road between Battlefield Parkway and Loudoun County Parkway and Watson Road between Evergreen Mills Road and Route 50 and made recommendations for improvements.

On July 19, 2018, the Board of Supervisors (Board) allocated $1.2 million to fund various short-term improvements and countermeasures at this intersection to address safety and visibility issues such as:

Tree trimming
Traffic signal modifications
Flashing warning beacons
Pole-mounted speed display signs
Reflective markings on guardrails and wider edge line pavement markings
Variable message signs to alert drivers to speed and congestion issues

The safety audit also identified mid-term projects, which would take approximately 1-5 years to implement. On March 5, 2019, the Board forwarded the following mid-term projects to a future fiscal year of the Capital Improvement Program budget for further discussion, evaluation and prioritization:

The Evergreen Mills Road Realignment Project is already underway to realign Watson Road with Reservoir Road.
A left-turn lane near the Evergreen SportsPlex.
Mumble strips at roadway departure locations north of Fleetwood Road/Creighton Road.
A study of possible traffic signals or roundabouts at Evergreen Mills Road’s intersections with Crimson Place/Red Cedar Drive and Shreve Mill Road.
Design of law enforcement areas corridor-wide.

Long-term projects identified during the safety audit, which would take approximately 5+ years to implement, will be considered in the future depending upon the need for additional improvements to these corridors.

Completed Improvements

Short-term improvements to improve roadway safety were proposed at locations that have higher risk for potential crashes and crash "hot spots" that were identified along both the Evergreen Mills Road and Watson Road corridors included in the safety study. Construction of these improvements, which were approved by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, is complete.
A Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) intersection improvement project, Woods Road Phase II, added turn lanes at the intersection of The Woods Road and Evergreen Mills Road. The Evergreen Mills Road turn lanes at The Woods Road are open.