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Arguments against the
Western Transportation Corridor (WTC)
There is No Need for the Project. It Will Increase Traffic on Some Roads
- The 1989 Study concluded
that a north-south road such as a Western Bypass (currently known as the WTC)
would not take a significant amount of traffic off the Beltway. The study showed
only a 5 - 6.5% decrease in traffic on the Beltway at the American Legion Bridge.
It also measured 3 segments of I-95, which showed that the traffic effects on
I-95 ranged from a 0.5% decrease to an 11.8% increase. Are these small returns
worth the billions of dollars it would take to build the highway? We can find
better ways to address traffic on these existing roads.
- Dulles Airport has exaggerated
its cargo tonnage 365 times over. Who would be so inefficient as to ship freight
to the US by boat to Norfolk, then haul it by truck to Dulles, to reship it by
air? Absurd! Further, the study itself does not address any special need at Dulles
for such freight.
- The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park
Service have all stated that VDOT's data does not justify building the
road. The 1997 WTC study shows that such a road would carry an average
of 37,000 cars a day, counting both north and south traffic, in the
year 2020. That's about what many two-lane roads carry today operating
at satisfactory service levels. Only 2700 of those trips would be between
Rt. 95 to as far as Dulles. The other 35,300 would be short trips of
just one exit to the next.
-
Meanwhile, the 1989 WTC
Study showed that 91 percent of the traffic in the study area was east-west
or radial. Instead of relieving congestion on other roads, the highway
would increase traffic on sections of east-west connectors such as Rt.
7, Rt. 50, and Rt. 29 -- up to 43 percent in some cases. The 1997 VDOT study
showed that traffic on 5 of the 7 major highways near the WTC would increase -
in some cases substantially - or only be reduced by a small amount.
Route 7, west of Route 659
|
10.7%
increase
in average weekday traffic in 2020 |
Route 50, west of Route 606
|
22.5%
increase |
Route 50, east of Route 15
|
0.2%
increase |
Route 15, north of Leesburg
|
21.8%
increase |
I-66, west of Route 28
|
1.0% decrease |
I-95, north of Prince William
Parkway
|
4.8% decrease
[characterized as "fairly minor"] |
From the 1997 VDOT Study
(Technical Memorandum #8: Travel Forecasting Results (T.M.), September, 1997.)
It Will Bring Unwanted
Development Pressure to the Area
Developers own acres of land along the Western
Transportation Corridor and the highway will give access to that land so they
can build thousands of houses. In 2002, the development community poured millions
of dollars into the campaign to pass a sales tax referendum for transportation.
Among other projects, revenues from the sales tax would have funded the Western
Transportation Corridor (Route 659 Relocated) and the Tri-County
Parkway. A map
produced by the NoSprawlTax.org
campaign showed thousands of acres in the WTC corridor held by speculative landholders.
Developers then poured hundreds
of thousands of dollars more into the 2003 Loudoun election. Among the new Board's
first actions were to consider putting the WTC back on the county plan and to
open the Transition Area surrounding the proposed WTC to public water and sewer.
As of Nov 2004, the county is considering applications for changes to the County
Comprehensive Plan that would allow 42,000 new houses in the county - most of
which would line the WTC corridor. See the map.
Maryland, by contrast, has
invested millions in the purchase of development rights in western Montgomery
County where the highway would end up if it crossed the Potomac. Maryland has
stated that such a highway would bring unwanted developmental pressures to areas
where development is not consistent with their land use plan. Virginia should
recognize the same about her outlying counties.
Local jurisdictions do
not want the project
VDOT is actively pursuing the project despite opposition from some county
Boards of Supervisors. In the past, the Boards of Fauquier, Stafford and Prince
William Counties opposed the WTC, contending that the proposed corridor would
bring unnecessary urbanization, inconsistent with their comprehensive development
plans, and severely disrupt established land use patterns in the counties.
Many of the counties remain
opposed. Stafford has flatly voted against it. Fauquier voted for it only
if the section in Fauquier ran along the Quantico border, which Quantico
had said was unacceptable. Loudoun County took the WTC out of their transportation
plan in 2002. Prince William does have the project on its plans but local
officials are struggling to build local roads that constituents are demanding.
There is Invalid Data
in the Analysis
The 1997 WTC study used inflated demographic data that was out
of date and skewed the results. It assumed 1980s growth rates not seen in the
1990s, and never seen in Western Prince William County. Further, it left out such
planned improvements as overpasses along the Rt. 28 corridor and the widening
of I-66. Also, it ignored intermodal (mass transit) transportation.
It is Anti-Conservation
This highway would threaten the integrity of the historic Manassas National Battlefield
Park and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Parks, while destroying
open space and the rural character that many of the local communities are trying
to preserve through land use plans. No
dedicated preservationist would advocate that a highway be built in the narrow
strip between Conway Robinson Memorial State Forest and Manassas National Battlefield
Park or through agricultural and forest areas.
The highway would also decimate
Virginia's agricultural land. The proposed project would fragment highly productive
agricultural lands in the region. The project is estimated to degrade or destroy
up to 450 acres of wetlands, ten times the area lost in the upgrade/link alternative.
It is a Wasteful Project
This is a $1.5 billion project that will not reduce traffic congestion in the
region. The studies performed by the Commonwealth do not support the project.
In their "Road
to Ruin" report, which lists the nation's most wasteful and environmental
highway projects, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of The Earth reported
that "The Western Transportation Corridor is a redundant effort without sufficient
demand. The region already has several recently completed north-south corridors
and others are under construction. Another north-south corridor would only be
a waste of taxpayer dollars."
Conclusion: It's a Developer's
Road at Taxpayer's Expense
Speculators who buy farmland cheap, get it approved for more development
and roads, then sell it for a profit want to do just that with land in the areas
near the proposed Western Transportation Corridor. Such a highway has been an
important agenda item for Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance (NVTA), the
Washington Airports Task Force (WATF), and the Greater Washington Board of Trade
(GWBT). They have board members and overlapping memberships comprised heavily
of those in the construction, financing, real estate, and development communities.
But some developers' profits
come at the expense of residents and taxpayers. The $1.5 billion dollars
spent to build the WTC is transportation money not available for road
fixes that will reduce traffic. Furthermore, the development that springs
up around the highway will add traffic to local roads and will cost taxpayers
millions of dollars in new schools, new fire and police personnel, new
secondary roads, etc. Property taxes from the development will not be
sufficient to cover these costs.
Residents deserve to have
reasonable growth that they can afford and that won't overburden county facilities.
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