FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
CONTACT: Bill Pugh, bill@smartergrowth.net, (202) 675-0016, ext. 7084
Lesley Paredes, lesley.paredes-hernandez@sierraclub.org, (240) 424-0976
The joint release is produced and published by the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter.
Transportation Planning Board Votes to Remove Southside Express Lanes Project from Regional Plan
Washington, D.C. – During a meeting at the Transportation Planning Board today, leaders from DC, Maryland, and Virginia voted to exclude the controversial Southside Express Lanes project from the regional plan Visualize 2050. The project proposed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) would have added two toll lanes in each direction on the Capital Beltway from Springfield, VA, over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and terminate at MD 210 in Prince George’s County. The project cannot proceed to construction until it is included in the plan.
Local elected officials and community advocates cautioned that the project would move a bottleneck on the Beltway into Prince George’s County and create an insurmountable barrier to expanding Metrorail over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that was designed to accommodate future rail. There were additional concerns about pollution, traffic, and safety impacts on local roads that advocates claimed were unaddressed by VDOT.
Advocates for sustainable transportation applauded the vote on Wednesday and encouraged regional leaders to work on a new sustainable plan to address congestion and improve mobility by carefully considering a combination of options, including shoulder and HOV lanes combined with expanded carpool and transit incentives, transit-oriented development, transportation demand management, and future metrorail expansion.
In response to the vote, advocates have issued the following statements:
“We applaud the Transportation Planning Board members for voting not to advance the Southside project in the regional plan. The Southside project would bring more air pollution and traffic to our communities while failing to resolve congestion. We call on regional officials to come up with a new sustainable transit and land use plan to improve mobility in the region,” said Lindsey Mendelson, Senior Transportation Campaign Representative, Maryland Sierra Club.
“Regional officials made the right call, and we appreciate their taking a hard look. Multi-billion-dollar decisions should not be made based on flawed studies and incomplete information. Virginia and Maryland now have the opportunity to develop better, more sustainable, and equitable solutions for the 495 Southside corridor,” said Bill Pugh, AICP CTP, Transportation and Climate Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“It would be irresponsible to allow Virginia’s Southside toll lanes to block a future extension of Metro’s Blue Line over the Wilson Bridge. The Transportation Planning Board got this right,” said Barbara Coufal, Chair, Citizens Against Beltway Expansion.
“The South County Environmental Justice Coalition is pleased that the Board heard the voices of the residents,” said Patricia Monroe, Chair, South County Environmental Justice Coalition.
“The Capital Region Transportation Board’s decision to not fund the Southside Expansion of the Beltway is a win for equity, as adding toll lanes would have placed an expensive dilemma on low-income residents whose very livelihood depends on transportation via the beltway”, said Nanci Wilkinson, Environmental Justice Ministry, Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation partner.
###