Vote to Forgo I-66 Expansion Imperils Federal Funds, Increases Ire – The Post
Bad news for a sensible widening project:
The I-66 project would connect a series of acceleration and deceleration lanes, effectively widening the westbound road from two to three lanes between Fairfax Drive and Sycamore Street and expanding it between Washington Boulevard and the Dulles Airport Access Road from three lanes to four.
That is exactly what I suggested they do four years ago, but it was voted down by Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Transportation Planning Board. Not surprisingly, Arlington members voted against it, but “the swing votes during Wednesday’s meeting turned out to be Fairfax County’s. Both of Fairfax’s representatives on the panel, county supervisors Catherine M. Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill) and Linda Q. Smyth (D-Providence).” I do not understand why they cast the votes they did.
Arlington is rightfully proud of developing a well-zoned, pedestrian and transit oriented community that sets a standard for new urbanism. I loved living in Arlington for this reason. I do not believe I am alone in that situation. The “Arlington vs. the other suburbs” attitude has got to go — a lot of us would live in Arlington if it were more affordable.
I would have benefited from this widening as a pro-transit Arlington resident who “reverse commuted” by car from Pentagon City to Tysons everyday for five years. What makes this widening so desirable was that it would not need to remove any houses and would not detract from the transit. I could see the need to possibly detour a few sections of the Custis Trail, but it would not be significant. This would be a sensible project and I hope it is resurrected.
