Delegate Richard H. Black (R-32) on June 13, 1998, held an emergency meeting with community leaders to discuss anticipated increases in traffic volumes heading toward the new Dulles Town Shopping Center.  The shopping center, located directly across Rt. 7 from Countryside Boulevard, will partially open this November.  At that time, dangerous levels of traffic will pass through Countryside unless the planned construction of an alternative route is dramatically accelerated.
     The emergency meeting took place in the home of Bruce Tulloch, President of the Countryside Board of Directors, and included Delegate Black, Chairman Dale Polen Myers, and Director of the Dulles Town Center for Lerner Enterprises, Bernard C. Voyten.
     Construction of the Mall is slated for completion this year.  However, delayed construction of the Algonkian Parkway extension crossing beneath Rt. 7 means that Countryside Boulevard will be the principal access for a huge increase in traffic starting in November of 1998.  The 1.2 million square foot shopping center, which consists of 127 stores, will increase traffic volume by an estimated 80% on Countryside Boulevard where several accidents, including fatalities, have already occurred.
     Black plans to meet with Virginia Transportation Secretary Shirley J. Ybarra to request roughly $9 million in State allocations, under the $218 billion federal Highway and Mass-Transit Bill.  Much of the new federal money is already committed, but Black believes there is still some spending flexibility.  "We need a commitment from the state," said Black.  "We are the economic engine of the Commonwealth.  We can't become strangled by our own prosperity."
     "I'm interested in doing whatever I can to get this job done," stated Chairman Dale Polen Myers.
     "I'm glad our representative, Delegate Black, is helping communities along the Algonkian Parkway alleviate this problem," Tulloch said.