Controversial VA Outer Beltway Being Revived?
COALITION FOR SMARTER GROWTH, PIEDMONT ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 25, 2011
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, CSG, 703-599-6437
Chris Miller, PEC, 540-347-2334
Is the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board Reviving the Controversial Outer Beltway?
There are Better Solutions and Higher Priorities
Secretary Connaughton on Audio Recording Talks about “Bushwhacking” People
“From the beginning we’ve expressed concern about the amount of borrowing and about what we are buying with the administration’s transportation plan,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Many legislators were convinced to support the package because of the 900 project list shared by the Secretary of Transportation.”
Yet, we kept noting that out of $3 billion in borrowing, $1.5 billion would be going into unspecified Public Private Transportation Act projects. A separate infrastructure bank using $150 million in general funds and $250 million taken from maintenance accounts would be used for subsidized low interest loans to PPTA projects. The legislators have retained no real oversight of PPTA proposals, prioritization and contracts.
“The Secretary’s list certainly didn’t include portions of the very controversial Outer Beltway. Inclusion of that highway in the 2002 Sales Tax Referendum package was one of the key issues that prompted a strong rejection of the tax increase,” said Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Yet behind the scenes, there appears to be an effort to revive and prioritize the TriCounty Parkway segment of the Western Bypass or Outer Beltway. In a meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) last week, the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Sean Connaughton and two CTB members announced a renewed effort to prioritize a highway connecting I-95 in Prince William to Rt. 50 in Loudoun with an ultimate goal of connecting into Maryland. See related map.
Audio of Secretary Connaughton at the Feb 16th Commonwealth Transportation Board Meeting
At last week’s CTB meeting, the Secretary of Transportation brought up an issue not on the published agenda, asking two of the CTB members, Gary Garzynski and Doug Koelemay, if they had a resolution to offer. After describing a new highway connection that follows the route of the proposed TriCounty Parkway/Western Bypass, they said that the resolution was not quite ready yet, but that they hoped it would be by the next CTB meeting in March.
Secretary Connaughton, who used to Chair the Prince William Board of Supervisors, then said:
“You guys would never make it on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, we live for bushwhacking people.”
“The Secretary of Transportation highlighted a list of 900 projects that has been a key to winning many legislators’ support for more debt and spending. Then, off the radar screen from the legislature, the media, and the public the Secretary is maneuvering the revival and addition of one of the most controversial highways in the state,” said Schwartz. “Yes, we feel bushwhacked.”
To get some sense of the tone of the discussion, you can listen to the last few minutes meeting audio for the Feb 16th meeting(last 20 percent of the file) or review our transcription(PDF). It’s an interesting insight into how transportation decisions are being made.
Destroying a Historic Landscape on the 150th Anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas
“This outer beltway segment would destroy the historic landscape on the western boundary of Manassas Battlefield – in the very year we are honoring the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas,” said Miller. Next year is the anniversary of the Second Battle of Manassas a significant part of which took place in close proximity to this proposed highway. “Thousands of reenactors are expected to arrive in Prince William County during the July 21-24 ceremonies honoring the First Battle of Manassas and Virginia is counting on their tourism dollars as we come out of the recession.”
More Traffic, Not Less – and a Waste of Money
“Furthermore, this highway would not solve our traffic problems – it would actually make them worse,” said Schwartz. “We’ve repeatedly offered a comprehensive set of better solutions and higher priority projects including fixing I-66, VRE, local road connections, and stronger rural land protection.”
This massive road, often referred to as the 'Outer Beltway' or 'Western Transportation Corridor', has been repeatedly rejected because it doesn’t relieve traffic on the Beltway, I-95, I-66 or local roads. In fact, it would make traffic worse by opening up thousands more acres to development and feeding more traffic from the west onto gridlocked east-west roads.
Construction of an Outer Beltway would encourage increased development in areas which lack the necessary support infrastructure (water, sewer, schools, services, roads, etc) – making existing congestion, fiscal, and environmental problems worse.
The real transportation need in western Prince William and Loudoun counties is for improved east-west connections, including transit. The critical needs include I-66,Route 50, Waxpool Road, Route 7, and VRE in the west and I-95 and VRE to the south.
On top of that, the project would siphon money away from projects that citizens of the Commonwealth actually need – repair, maintenance, and enhancements for our aging bridges, roads, and transit systems, and addressing major bottlenecks within the already built up areas of Northern Virginia and other metro areas.
The highway would desecrate the historic landscape and historic district on the western edge of Manassas Battlefield in close proximity some of the most intense fighting in the Second Battle of Manassas in 1862 and it would do so as we honor the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.
RESOURCES:
Coalition sponsored study by national transportation expert, reviewing the Battlefield Bypass and Tri-County Parkway studies and confirming the need for East-West, not North-South relief: http://www.smartergrowth.net/anx/ass/library/11/smartmobility.pdf
Loudoun Citizens for a County Transportation Plan commissioned study confirming the need for East-West, not North-South relief: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bx7hoKgIYzVlNjQxNTlhMzAtZDY0Yy00YjU3LTgwNWEtZDdmYTJkOTk4MzMy&hl=en
Route 460 -- another of the Governor’s priorities not found in the 900 project list. Traffic numbers do not justify the highway as document in CSG analysis of state traffic numbers: http://www.smartergrowth.net/anx/ass/library/11/460release.pdf
