Tell VDOT to go back to the drawing board on their I-495 Southside Study

The region was promised future Metrorail across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to connect Virginia and Maryland when the bridge was reconstructed. WMATA is currently studying a Blue Line connection across the bridge.

But the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is racing ahead with a biased study designed solely to extend High Occupancy Toll Lanes (aka “Express Lanes”) across the bridge. This will add traffic to connecting roads in Virginia – Van Dorn, Telegraph, and Route 1, create a bottleneck in Maryland, and make it likely that a private toll road company will block Metrorail.

Call on your elected officials and VDOT to restart the study with a new Purpose and Need that focuses on moving people, not just building toll lanes, and includes comprehensive alternatives combining transit (including Metrorail), transit-oriented development, and demand management. This will offer a better way to reduce traffic demand and support sustainable, walkable, transit-oriented communities.

Image source: VDOT

? Take future action with a single click.
Log in or Sign up for FastAction

Contact Information

First Name Last Name

Street Address

Postal Code City State

Email Mobile Phone (Optional)

Yes, sign me up for email updates.

Remember me so that I can use FastAction next time.

(Optional)

VDOT’s 495 Southside study must go back to the drawing board

Dear [friend],

VDOT needs to restart its I-495 Southside study with a Purpose and Need statement that reflects the need to move more people, not just more vehicles. The current study has been flawed from the beginning because VDOT wrote the conclusion first, to “Provide Express Lanes System Continuity.” This is outright bias and goes against the intent of the National Environmental Policy Act. VDOT also failed to consider all reasonable alternatives by only including piecemeal transit options. Beyond that, VDOT has excluded a combined Metrorail, transit-oriented development, and traffic demand reduction alternative – one that would help address the underlying cause of traffic and the uneven east-west traffic flows. The screening criteria are similarly biased. 1) The study’s first screening criterion is “System Continuity” of the Express Toll Lanes, which further biases the study toward VDOT’s conclusion-first alternative. 2) VDOT’s congestion scoring gives the Express Toll Lanes alternatives a positive “Green” despite the fact that these toll lane projects depend on continued congestion in the General Purpose lanes so that private toll lanes operators can set (and profit from) high tolls. In addition, they will add to traffic congestion on Van Dorn, Telegraph, and Route 1 as more drivers seek to enter and exit the Beltway, and this is not being accounted for by VDOT. 3) VDOT also gives high safety ratings to alternatives that add more lanes for car traffic, while providing no evidence how they would improve safety when removing shoulders, or with more traffic added to connecting roads. In addition, the region was promised Metrorail on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and it was engineered to support the weight of the trains. Moreover, Metro is currently studying a Blue Line connection across the bridge to Huntington. Yet VDOT is ignoring this option. Metrorail connecting Northern Virginia and Prince George's would promote economic development in southern Fairfax and Alexandria, and provide a real and affordable alternative to sitting in traffic. VDOT must include Metrorail options in their study. For these reasons, I ask VDOT to start over with a new Purpose and Need statement and evaluation criteria that are not biased toward one conclusion. I also ask VDOT to develop and advance for evaluation a comprehensive and integrated transit (including Metrorail) and transit-oriented land use alternative. I also ask that our elected officials in Alexandria and Fairfax seek a restarted study that addresses the flaws discussed above. Thank you for the opportunity to comment,

Sincerely, [Your information here]