“We want to be involved in the solution. The problem is in our backyard, and any decisions on what is going to happen in Arlington should at least be discussed with our citizens,” said Paul Ferguson, County Board chairman. “To do anything less would be contrary to the principles of democratic government.”

Commenting on the advantages of citizen involvement in Saturday’s discussion, Vice Chairman Barbara Favola noted that “the citizens most affected will insist that environmental impacts as well as other quality of life factors be included in crafting the solution.”

The resolution suggests increasing resources and efforts for ridesharing in the corridor, bus rapid transit, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, rail to Tysons Corner and eventually Dulles Airport, improving conventional bus service in the corridor, and restoring previous HOV levels as well as instituting reverse HOV operations.

“There are a whole host of options available to address the problem,” noted Chris Zimmerman, Board member and member of the Board of Directors, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). “The long-term result of widening I-66 from four lanes to six would surely be swapping a four-lane traffic tie-up for a six-lane traffic tie-up.”

Board members pointed to the bipartisan group of elected officials asked by the Virginia State General Assembly last year to come up with Northern Virginia’s transporation priorities as the way to address the issue.

“Our priorities in Northern Virginia are being finalized by the people and for the people by this group of bipartisan elected officials in conjunction with citizen input from meetings conducted this fall,” said Jay Fisette, Board member. Ferguson, Fisette and Zimmerman represented Arlington in the Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan process. “We will finish the plan and have it to the State General Assembly in time for the budget process. It should form the basis for future solutions to the congestion problem, and there is nothing in the Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan that mentions widening I-66.”

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, at the behest of the Virginia General Assembly, a bipartisan group of elected officials are cooperating on the development of a Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan, to provide a comprehensive approach to the region’s transportation problems; and

WHEREAS, proposals for transportation improvements by federal and state authorities outside this framework risk creating ineffective, conflicting, and financially wasteful transportation projects and thus risk undermining the existing regional consensus approach to address our transportation problems; and

WHEREAS, the goals of regional transportation policies are not only reducing congestion, but also reducing vehicle miles traveled, encouraging travel by means less injurious to the environment (especially air quality and water systems, including the Chesapeake Bay), and discouraging uncontrolled sprawl that strains public infrastructure systems and destroys natural resources and farm land; and

WHEREAS, the current configuration of the Custis Parkway facility is based on a historic agreement, embodied in the January 4, 1977, “Coleman Decision,” to which the government of Virginia and the federal government were parties; and

WHEREAS, the “Coleman Decision” represented a compromise among various interests, in which Arlingtonians made sacrifices to enable the highway’s construction and were given certain assurances upon which they relied; and

WHEREAS, among those assurances were the facility’s parkway status, truck restrictions, HOV mandates, rail service in the corridor, and limitations on the number of lanes; and

WHEREAS, the person-carrying capacity of the Custis Parkway was significantly reduced in 1995 by the change from HOV-3 to HOV-2, over the objections of the Arlington County Board; and

WHEREAS, expansion of I-66 would be very costly, diverting limited funds from other approved and needed projects, and disruptive to communities through which it passes, as well as to traffic on the road itself; and

WHEREAS, given ultimate limitations in capacity (whether at the Potomac River or farther west, if widening be limited), widening may do little more than shift congestion, rather than reduce it; and

WHEREAS, with likely induced demand rapidly filling up all available lanes, including newly built lanes, the long-term result would almost surely be the replacement of four-lane congestion with six-lane congestion; and

WHEREAS, measures are underway to ease commuting in the I-66 corridor, including construction of a new parking garage at Vienna Metro Station for 1500 cars (the equivalent of one lane of traffic for one hour), planning for Metrorail to Tyson’s Corner, and planning for bus rapid transit (BRT)--followed by rail--to Dulles;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that no changes should be made to the George Washington Custis Parkway (I-66) until a comprehensive regional transportation plan is in place, arrived at with community consensus, that is internally consistent, cost-effective, environmentally sensitive, and that favors non-roadway solutions, especially public transit;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT state and federal authorities should desist from any attempt to impose a change in I-66 in violation of the 1977 Coleman decision.