Residents of Luttrell Road have intimate view of beltway construction
The residents of Luttrell Road in Annandale literally have a front-row seat to the beltway construction project. Until a new sound wall is built, Norma Smith and her neighbors have views like the one pictured on the left from their front doors. The houses and sound wall that used to be across the street have been demolished to make room for the beltway widening and HOT lanes project.
The two houses remaining on that side of the street closest to Gallows Road (below right) are being used as offices by VDOT and Fluor Corp., the company overseeing the construction. Those houses will be demolished when the project is completed.
The displaced residents were well compensated for losing their homes, but that doesn’t help the residents of the remaining 15 houses left on Luttrell Road. Having the beltway, or even a large sound wall across from your front yard, could have a “huge effect on property values,” notes Annandale realtor Vivianne Couts.The Smiths have given up trying to sell their house until the new sound walls are put up. A couple of buyers had contracts on their home over the past year but backed out, Norma Smith says.
When they moved to Luttrell Road in 1966, the original beltway was under construction, and Gallows Road had just two lanes. All of the houses on the dead-end street were build in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Smith “loves the property and being close to everything.” But the past few months have been difficult. She says after her husband complained about the dust, sprinklers were installed, and the construction company promised to send a water truck down the street every day. That has helped, although Smith says she’s lucky if it comes a couple of times of week. Traci Gray, who lives a few houses down from the Smiths, has lived on Luttrell Road for about four years. Overall, Gray says she loves living in Annandale. She moved here (her house is on the left above) to escape from a crime-ridden neighborhood in the District of Columbia and enroll her children in Fairfax County schools. She says it’s weird having a view of the beltway from her front door and it’s been a little dusty, but she isn’t bothered by the noise and expects things will be much better when the new sound wall is built.
The new wall should be up by the end of December, after the utility relocation work is done, says VDOT spokesperson Jamie Breme. The new walls will be concrete on steel posts and will be more sound absorptive than the old walls.
T. Williams, who’s lived on the street for 25 years, had dreaded the tearing down of the old sound wall, but once it was removed, she says, “the noise hasn’t been as bad as I thought.” The construction noise associated with the demolition of the Gallows Road overpass is a different story, though, particularly the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift. Williams says there’s only one child living on Luttrell Road, a one-year-old, so making sure children don’t run onto the beltway hasn’t been a major issue.
For Williams, the most traumatic aspect of the changes on Luttrell Road has been losing her neighbors across the street. Her husband passed away around the same time, so it’s been especially hard for her, as they would have been a comfort in her loss. “I truly miss my neighbors,” says Williams.
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Great little write-up. It is sad to see a community change so much due to the road construction. My curiosity was piqued when I saw the house (VDOT/Flurolane office) poking out from the sound wall… a very strange sight, indeed.