Leesburg traffic study examines converting downtown streets to one-way pairs; consultants advise caution

Consultants and town staff presented a months‑long downtown traffic study and updated travel‑demand model to the Leesburg Residential Traffic Commission, including seven build scenarios that would convert portions of Market Street, Loudoun Street, North Street and other downtown links into one‑way pairs.

Ravi Raut, the WSP traffic consultant on the project, said the work "was to kind of connect, understand the existing conditions, and let's see what are the issues or what the improvements can be made" and described the study area as the Catoctin Circle footprint around downtown. The project team collected AM/PM turning‑movement counts, prepared a crash heat map and developed 2030 build‑out volumes using the updated travel‑demand model.

The study identified 216 reported crashes from 2018 through 2023 within the study area, with 116 at signalized intersections and 100 at unsignalized locations, including one…