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 that will negatively impact the globally rare habitat at JK Black Oak.
At the Board of Supervisors business meeting on July 5, 2022, 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, where the Board of Supervisors gave direction to study only areas to the west of existing Route 15.
Click on map to enlarge.
The routes pictured are those released to the public from the county’s contractor in June 2025. In October, the county narrowed down to routes 1 and a variation on route 2, 1a. View the maps presented: Alignment 1 North, Alignment 1a North and Alignment 1 and 1a South.
This project realities fact sheet highlights issues with the original full bypass project that have gone unaddressed by the county. The most blatant of these center on inaccurate and disproportionately allocated budget estimates (7x over the original numbers currently being used), excessive property and home take (85 private land impacts for a 2.5 mile stretch of road), and prolonged timeline (nearly a decade before construction is complete). All of these issues are exacerbated and emphasized by the scale of the project, a scale that does not align with the current budget, physical impacts, and local capacity.
Now, in summer 2026, we’ve learned the project could be taking a different direction. A community member’s FOIA revealed that the county has submitted competing applications for state SmartScale funding; one for the full bypass and another for a smaller-scale project dubbed the “mini-bypass”.
Little has been communicated to the public about this new option. It would potentially be a quadrant roadway that incorporated roundabouts, lower speeds, and less required right-of-way. However, the details of the full SmartScale application remain unknown to the public. We do not yet know the location of where this new “mini-bypass” might be placed, nor has any confirmation been given on the number of lanes.
Any type of bypass placed to the west of the existing Route 15 will have an impact on JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary. A world of difference lies between a full-scale bypass which could biologically isolate JK Black Oak and take out entire vernal pools on the western border of the sanctuary, a smaller-scale bypass which could go along the eastern edge of the property, or some combination thereof that completely bisects the preserve. No matter how the project proceeds, we are committed to protecting the vital and rare wetland habitat we protect at JK Black Oak.
The county has posted an updated timeline on the Lucketts Bypass webpage, indicating that there will be a public meeting on the concept of the new mini-bypass in September. This will proceed localities receiving the results of the Smart Scale scoring in December and state public comment period coinciding with an alignment decision by the Board of Supervisors in the beginning of 2027.
The results of the county’s public input survey on the original options showed that over 60 percent of respondents believe that none of the proposed alignments work. We realize that the design phase of this project will yield more in-depth studies, but we have serious concerns about the inability to avoid some of the biggest problems with placing a roadway corridor in this area. The Route Alternatives document gives the issues for each of the four original alternatives (now narrowed down to variations on the blue and orange routes).
We want to thank the members of the public who attended public meetings and filled out the county’s first public input survey, commented to the Board, and stayed engaged on this issue to help us protect JK Black Oak. Please stay tuned in as more public engagement opportunities come up to decide the future of Route 15 and the habitat we hold so dear at JK Black Oak.
Leading up to this, we need you to email your Supervisor to tell them to protect JK Black Oak. You can also email the Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure (dtci@louduon.gov) with your concerns. Please contact LWC Conservation Advocacy Coordinator Trinity Mills at tmills@loudounwildlife.org with any questions. We need your voice!
Additional information on the Route 15 widening:
- County Project Page on all Route 15 North Projects
- Lucketts Bypass Page
- Alignment maps presented October 8: Alignment 1 North, Alignment 1a North and Alignment 1 and 1a South.
- Route Alternatives Document outlining reasonings for opposition to original routes
- 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.
- 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
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