ACST Letter to Governor-Elect Tim Kaine

November 21, 2005

The Honorable Timothy M. Kaine, Governor-Elect
PO Box 2485
Richmond, VA 23218

Dear Governor-Elect Kaine:

Congratulations on your election as governor! The Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation (ACST) looks forward to continued enlightened reform at the Virginia Department of Transportation and other good-government initiatives during your upcoming administration. We particularly applaud your campaign pledges to better link publicly funded transportation investments to local land use decisions and to give localities more power to influence local development. To help realize these pledges, we urge you to appoint a transportation secretary and a VDOT commissioner who are genuinely committed to expanding effective, multimodal transportation options for Virginia's urban centers.

We are concerned, however, by your repeated pledge to widen I-66 within Arlington County, even if limited to Rep. Frank Wolf's proposal to add only a single westbound travel lane.

For the past six years, ACST has opposed the efforts of some federal and state officials to force an unnecessary, ineffective, and unwise expansion of I-66 in Arlington, especially in the absence of any adopted long-term plan to effectively manage this key multimodal urban travel corridor.

The landmark 1977 Record of Decision by USDOT Secretary William Coleman (http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/idea66/downloads/Coleman-Decision.pdf), which authorized building I-66 inside the Capital Beltway after decades of heated controversy, established I-66 as a critical multimodal urban travel corridor, featuring a major Metrorail line in the median of an urban freeway that was purposely limited to just two managed travel lanes in each direction. With the planned $4 billion, 23-mile Dulles Rail Extension considered Northern Virginia's top unfunded transportation priority plus proposals to also extend Metrorail's Orange Line to Centreville or Gainesville, the Commonwealth must ensure effective future Metrorail operations in the I-66 median before expanding I-66 for vehicular travel.

Any added I-66 lanes in Arlington would likely pre-empt the space needed for third and fourth Metrorail tracks in the I-66 median. These additional tracks are essential for express Metrorail service to the outer suburbs and possibly even for basic Metrorail passenger capacity within Arlington. Without express service, the long and costly proposed Metrorail extensions would likely generate only modest ridership and require higher annual operating subsidies.

Regrettably, the joint VDOT-FHWA I-66 feasibility study (www.idea66.com), which was completed in spring 2005, failed to seriously consider the long-term needs of the proposed Dulles and Orange Line Metrorail extensions or to establish any legitimate basis or significant public benefit for adding any travel lanes to I-66. Moreover, despite the pretense of robust public involvement and the pursuit of "context-sensitive solutions", the study report's recommendation to widen I-66 disregarded locality and citizen feedback and seems intentionally manipulated to justify a preconceived conclusion.

ACST maintains that better management of the four existing I-66 lanes (e.g., through expanded HOV restrictions and/or the installation of automated tolling technology) could readily keep I-66 permanently uncongested at all times plus allow reliable new express bus service on an always free-flowing highway. Rather than validate any need to widen I-66, the technical analyses, public opinion poll, and citizen comments associated with the "Idea-66" study generally bolster our position. Indeed, the "Idea-66" study found that the planned Dulles Rail Extension and restoration of HOV-3 would significantly decrease I-66 traffic volumes from current levels.

For a more wide-ranging critique of the Idea-66 study process and final report, please review the Arlington County Board's April 19, 2005 "Resolution on Idea-66" (http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/CountyBoard/CountyBoardResolutionI-66.aspx), which we wholeheartedly endorse.

ACST asks that the Commonwealth not advance any changes to I-66 in Arlington without first conducting a full and fair environmental impact study that develops an effective long-term management plan for both Metrorail and highway operations in this corridor. More specifically, we ask that you (or Governor Warner) direct VDOT to deploy the federal and state funds that are currently identified for widening I-66 in Arlington to first conduct a comprehensive, objective, open, and transparent study that seriously examines all viable long-range and short-term management strategies for this multimodal corridor without any significant expansion of highway capacity.

Sincerely,

Allen Muchnick, President
Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation