With the dramatic changes going into effect on Route 7 near the intersections of Lisle Avenue/Magarity Road and the Beltway, it is interesting to find that in the March 1973 issue of the Pimmit Hills Dispatch, it was announced that the Pimmit Hills Citizens Association received a letter from the Virginia Department of Highways (now VDOT) which said that VDOT proposed to eliminate (close off) the Route 7/Lisle Avenue intersection.
In October 1973, PHCA representatives met with VDOT officials in Richmond regarding this issue. VDOT told them “this intersection is an extremely difficult problem to solve.” They expected to take several more weeks as they develop their plans, which, they said, would be submitted to Fairfax County and Pimmit Hills for review.
In the December 1973 issue of the Pimmit Hills Dispatch, it was reported that the Fairfax County Fire Department completed a study of “identifying fire and rescue service to Pimmit Hills if the Lisle Avenue/Route 7 intersection is closed. Also, a letter was reprinted from the Dranesville District Supervisor to the County Executive that recommended the intersection NOT be closed.
The January 1974 PHD issue reported that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agreed with our Supervisors and wrote a letter to VDOT asking them not to close the intersection.
By May 1974, the issue had still not been resolved so PHCA invited a member of VDOT to address Pimmit Hills residents on the status, as well as the status of the widening of Magarity Road.
At the January 1975 PHCA meeting, Fairfax County planning staff presented VDOT plans for the re-routing of Magarity Road/Route 7/Lisle Avenue intersection. Here was their proposed plan:
(click to enlarge)
There were 135+ residents in attendance and most of them strongly opposed the plan. PHCA was then going to meet with County officials to reaffirm the Pimmit Hills community’s “united concern” that the Lisle Avenue intersection with Route 7 must not be closed. The County was going to continue studying the overall problem.
In August 1975, Pimmit Hills teenagers were, “gathering data for the Fairfax County Transportation Planning Department in an effort to find out just how much of Lisle Avenue’s rush-hour load is local traffic and how much is just passing through. This information will be used to help decide the fate of the continually snarled intersection of Lisle, Magarity and Route 7.”
At the May 1976 PHCA meeting, a Fairfax County transportation planner described a number of possible solutions to the “troublesome” intersection of Route 7, Lisle Avenue and Magarity Road. The plan recommended by the County staff was endorsed by a vote of PHCA members at the meeting as “practical alternative to the present congestion.” Unfortunately, the Dispatch doesn’t say what this plan was.
However in the April 1977 issue of the Dispatch, the final plan was printed and implemented:
(click to enlarge)
