An Abridged I-66 Chronology

1940 A highway first appears on local thoroughfare plan along the so-called Fairfax-Bluemont Corridor utilizing much of the former Washington & Old Dominion Railroad right-of-way.

1956 I-66 is proposed by the Virginia Highway Commission as a 76-mile link between Washington, D.C. and another planned interstate, I-81.

1958 Initial I-66 hearings.

1960 Start of clearing of houses from I-66 right-of-way.

1966 Department of Transportation Highway Act passed requiring an inquiry regarding whether a "feasible and prudent alternative" is available before parkland is taken for a highway.

1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) passed requiring an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to determine whether there are impacts "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment" on federally funded projects.

1970 Design hearings for an eight lane I-66.

1970 Arlington County Board lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeking to enjoin construction of I-266 spur through George Washington Parkway and construction of Three Sisters Bridge. This suit was dismissed when plans for I-266 and the Three Sisters Bridge were abandoned.

1971 Arlington Coalition on Transportation (ACT) lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeking to block construction of I-66 through Arlington.

1972 The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of ACT. All work stops pending the completion of an EIS as required under NEPA.

1975 U.S. Sec. of Transportation William T. Coleman, Jr. rejects a revised 6-lane I-66 alternative.

1975 Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin continues to refuse to transfer the I-266 federal funding allocation for Metrorail unless I-66 is built.

1976 In order to break the I-66/Metrorail funding impasse, unprecedented hearings personally chaired by Secretary Coleman are held.

1977 The so-called Coleman Decision is rendered embracing a Multi-modal Transportation Corridor compromise with Metrorail running in the median of a 4-lane I-66.

1979 Continued Action on Transportation and the Environment (CONTACT) lawsuit alleging that I-66 was being built so it could be widened contrary to Coleman Decision 4-lane limit filed in U.S. District Court.

1980 The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects the CONTACT lawsuit.

1982 I-66 opens to traffic.

1983 Peak hour restrictions changed to HOV-3.

1995 Peak hour restrictions changed to HOV-2.

1999 Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va. recommends widening I-66 to 3-lanes westbound from Spout Run.

1999 Virginia Governor Gilmore announces his plan to widen I-66 in both directions inside the beltway.