With the county’s stated goal of improving safety and decreasing congestion, a number of road improvement projects are in process along the corridor of Route 15 North. One of these improvements, the Lucketts bypass, is expected to directly impact JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary. Loudoun Wildlife is staying closely involved with this process to do everything possible to prevent the construction of a roadway from impacting the globally rare habitat at JK Black Oak. Read on to learn about why the currently proposed alignment options don’t work, and what you can do to help.

At the Board of Supervisors July 5, 2022 business meeting, the Supervisors approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM) to widen Route 15 from north of Montresor Road to the Maryland state line. One of the phases of these improvements is the construction of a bypass around the Village of Lucketts. In response to initial advocacy efforts, county staff prioritized a recommendation to the Board to avoid impacts to JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary. However, at the business meeting, an unexpected motion was made which resulted in a directive from the Board that the design study to determine the routes for the bypass only consider options to the west of the village of Lucketts where the Sanctuary is located.

Click on map to enlarge.

In March 2020, Loudoun Wildlife purchased the 89-acre globally rare wetland now known as JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary, which is held under conservation easement. The potential paths that the bypass could take were presented at the June 4 public input meeting. Although we are grateful that the route that would have bisected the sanctuary was eliminated, of the four options presented, each has significant environmental issues and would negatively impact JK Black Oak. The county Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure and contractor will be presenting their preferred alignments at the next public meeting on October 8, 6:00 pm at the Lucketts Community Center. We are, in response to community concerns as well as our own, asking the county to reconsider the study. In addition to our concern on behalf of JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary, we do not believe that the proposed alternatives will meet the county’s goals for the project even after additional design elements are incorporated. Most importantly, neither does a majority of the community. The results of the county’s public input survey showed that over 60 percent of respondents said that none of the proposed alignments work.

So why don’t the route alternatives work? The Route Alternatives document gives the reasons for each alternative, but the problems can be summed up as follows.

Alternatives 1 and 2 would both follow part of New Valley Church Road and skirt the western border of the sanctuary. Each of these alternatives would have devastating impacts on Black Oak, turning the preserve into a biological island surrounded by high-volume, high-speed traffic on all sides. Alternative 1 also impacts another nearby conservation property, and Alternative 2 would worsen the isolation caused by the road due to closer proximity. Alternatives 4 and 5 present serious cultural and environmental justice concerns as both cut through the Hiway Mobile Home Community and harm the historic character of the village of Lucketts. Because of the lack of clarity on buffers and the actual boundaries of the project, alternatives 4 and 5 also run the risk of infringing on Black Oak’s stream.

Local residents express their opinion.

We want to thank the members of the public who attended the June 4, 2025 public meeting and took the time to fill out the county’s survey. Your responses were critical in showing the county that this project does not have community support. We still need your help to continue the fight to protect JK Black Oak. Join us at the October 8 meeting and speak up for JK Black Oak. Both ahead of, and after the meeting, email the Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure (dtci@louduon.gov) and the Lucketts Bypass project manager (tyler.cockrell@loudoun.gov) with your concerns. For talking points, see the Route Alternatives document that is color coded to the routes. Please contact tmills@loudounwildlife.org with any questions. We need your voice!

Since the Board will still be required to vote to approve a route alternative once they have been determined, you can also email your Supervisor to tell them to reconsider the study area to avoid impacts to JK Black Oak when the item comes before them (expected Winter 2026). Keeping pressure on the Board is important, so it’s not too early to let them know that we’re still here fighting for the wildlife that call JK Black Oak their home.

We want to thank the members of the public who attended the June 4, 2025 public meeting and those who spoke up and overwhelmingly responded to protect JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary during a survey in June 2021.

Additional information on the Route 15 widening:

• County Project Page on all Route 15 North Projects
  • Lucketts Bypass Page
  • Announcement of public input meeting on June 4
• Map showing sinkhole locations and bypass routes
• Lucketts Bypass Design Study RFQ (loose project plan and anticipated scope)
• Loudoun Wildlife’s comments to the Board of Supervisors July 2022.
  • Staff report/ CPAM Item Packett
• Loudoun Wildlife’s comments on the potential bypass options June 2021.
• Loudoun County Staff Report for Planning Commission Public Hearing on November 30 2021.
• Loudoun County CPAM project website.
• Full results of the first county survey on alignment direction preferences.
• Advocacy 101 event recording on public involvement with road projects, including a case study on the Route 15 bypass

The post Route 15 Improvement Projects: The Lucketts Bypass appeared first on Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.