Introduction
The purpose of this background information is to place the current I-66 controversy into perspective and hopefully set the stage for what could become a new grassroots coalition working towards sensible and innovative solutions to Northern Virginia's transportation challenges.
The Virginia Highway Department's original plan called for an essentially at-grade highway with a chain link fence "covered with ivy" to separate the neighborhoods from the Interstate. One location was wide enough to accommodate 14 lanes for interchanges and highway ramps.
Because of community opposition, what resulted was:
- a below-grade highway through much of the Arlington corridor;
- a cut-and-cover tunnel in Rosslyn where the Arlington Gateway Park now stands;
- numerous retaining walls, the highest at 45 feet, with many utilizing a new innovative design;
- bicycle/pedestrian trails following most of the highway's right-of-way;
- thousands of feet of sound barrier to minimize noise impacts on the adjacent neighborhoods;
- and certain unintended occurrences, like the accidental creation of an urban wetlands by the wildlife "intruders" at the I-66 storm water retention area that is now the Ballston Beaver Pond.
In the final analysis, Arlington residents caused the redesign of I-66 from the proposed 8-lane highway to a Multi-modal Transportation Corridor consisting of a 4-lane highway with 6 miles of Metrorail in the median. This result was a significant departure from business-as-usual for the Virginia Highway Department (now VDOT), and occurred at a time when the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metrorail system was a fairly new, unproven concept with many skeptics questioning whether it would live up to expectations.
"The Virginia Highway Department wanted an 8-lane expressway. Residents along the proposed route wanted no highway. The result was a compromise and one of the most innovative highways in American History."