Leesburg commission reviews downtown traffic study and development pipeline as staff present travel-demand model findings

Staff and consultants presented the town—s downtown travel-demand model and a traffic study that evaluated converting several downtown corridors to one-way pairs and recommended a mix of short-term safety fixes and longer-term investments. The commission heard data from speed studies, crash summaries and model runs and received an update on active development applications that planners say are largely already accounted for in the model.

The presentation, given in part by Scott Parker, senior planning project manager in the Department of Community Development, explained the modeling assumptions and how planned roadway improvements and approved developments were incorporated. "For those who don't know me, my name is Scott Parker. I'm a senior planning project manager, department of community development," Parker said while walking commissioners through an updated development map used in the travel-demand model.

The study area covered the downtown core bounded roughly by Catoctin Circle, Union Street and Fairview Street. Staff said data collection took place in September 2023 and that crash records from Jan. 1, 2018, through May 31, 2023, were summarized for the analysis. The crash summary in…