Roadblock to I-66 Project Cleared
A recent Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance newsletter points a ray of sunshine in what usually is gloomy news in regional transportation: a recent district court decision has cleared the way for the first phase of an I-66 widening project.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) awarded a $10.2 million contract on May 19th to build an additional 1.3 mile westbound lane from Fairfax Drive to Sycamore Street on I-66 westbound inside the Beltway. The project will begin this summer and be completed next year, according to the NVTA.
An Arlington Green Party members’ lawsuit had delayed awarding of the contract until a U.S. District Court Judge ruled April 30th in favor of the Commonwealth.
The next 2 phases cover spot improvements between Haycock Road and Westmoreland Street, and between Lee Highway and Glebe Road. The projects will reduce congestion and travel times during peak periods, and increase safety by lengthening merge areas and reducing risk of stop-and-go accidents, according to a press release from Gov. Bob McDonnel’s office.
In other positive transportation news, the NVTA also reported that construction will begin this year on the Fair Lakes Parkway/Monument Drive portion of Fairfax County Parkway, a major bottleneck.
As part of the project, crews will build a grade-separated interchange and widen the parkway from four to six lanes between one-half mile south of I-66 and east of Rugby Road.
Transportation Outlook Grim
The ailing economy has been affecting industries throughout the country for some time now, and the transportation prognosis for Northern Virginia appears poor, according to the state’s transportation chief.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer provided business leaders and local officials a grim assessment of the future of transportation in Virginia at a June 3 meeting sponsored by the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
“We are approaching a cliff,” Secretary Homer said, according to the NVTA Web site. “If we don’t act quickly (to address the transportation funding crisis), Virginia’s prosperity will go elsewhere.”
Local media reports indicate that even as his agency has implemented layoffs and severe cuts in the operations budget and state’s six-year transportation improvement fund, it faces further financial shortfalls as federal and state revenues continue to decline.
In his speech, Secretary Homer noted that the lack of state funds means the state will:
- lose jobs because it can’t attract majory employers with transportation improvements
- continue to suffer congestion woes
lose federal transportation dollars because it can’t match federal funds - lose private transportaion money because it can’t attract public private transportation partnerships
To view Secretary Homer’s presentation, visit the NVTA Web site at www.nvta.org.
