The building of an Outer Beltway is supported by those interested in developing the DC region’s more rural areas in Stafford, Fauquier, Prince William, Loudoun, Montgomery, Frederick, and Prince George’s Counties. Their strategy has been to build the Outer Beltway in segments to reduce public opposition. These segments include the following proposed roads: Intercounty Connector (ICC) in Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland, and in Virginia, the Techway in Loudoun or Fairfax County and the Western Bypass/ Western Transportation Corridor (WTC) in Loudoun County, the Tri-County Parkway (with roads proposed in either Loudoun, Fairfax or Prince William Counties), the Manassas Battlefield Bypass in Prince William County, and a southern bridge crossing over the Potomac River.

The Virginia Department of Transportation held public hearings on two of these roads in May of 2005—the Manassas Battlefield Bypass and the Tri-County Parkway. ANS staff testified against both of these proposed roads at the hearings.

Our testimony is backed up by recent studies that show new roads and widened roads usually do not provide traffic relief in the long run. Often, in fact, new roads fill to capacity within 2-5 years of completion. This happens because houses, shopping centers, and other developments occur along these new roads, leading to increased traffic. The increased traffic, of course, contributes to air pollution in the region.

Along with other members of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (www.smartergrowth.net), ANS supports a better solution to traffic problems. Solutions that, as stated on the Coalition’s web site, “create travel options by building mixed-use communities composed of residential and commercial facilities, with transit-oriented development and town centers so that we can walk, bike, take transit, or drive shorter distances to the places we need to go. By giving people alternatives to driving, we free up space on the roads for those who have to or choose to drive, which benefits everyone.”

Most of the traffic needs in Northern Virginia require additional East-West road capacity so that commuters can travel where most jobs are—the inner suburbs and the District of Columbia.

Most of the proposed Tri-County Parkway and Manassas Battlefield Bypass alignments are more North-South roads. Both of these highways were part of the 2002 Sales Tax

Referendum voted down by citizens in Northern Virginia.

Citizens supported paying $130 million to stop a strip mall from being built near the southwest corner of the Manassas Battlefield, thereby protecting that land from development. This same area would now be marred by one of the proposed North-South alignments of the Battlefield Bypass.

ANS, along with others in the Coalition for Smarter Growth, proposes the following traffic congestion solutions:

• Co-locate Route 29 along I-66 and widen I-66 from Gainesville to Centreville, improve the I-66 interchanges at Sudley Rd and Gainesville/US-29

• Finish expansion and interchanges on Route 28 between I-66 and Route 7

• Extend Metrorail to Centreville

• Increase rural lands protection in areas north, west, and east of Manassas Battlefield

• Provide appropriate local road connections and safety improvements to help local residents

Tri-County Parkway
A draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released in April 2005. Comments will be accepted through June 13, 2005.
E-mail: [email protected]
Mail:
Mr. Ken Wilkinson
Environmental Division VDOT
1401 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Manassas Battlefield Bypass

The Federal Highway Administration released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in March 2005. Comments on the DEIS will be accepted through June 6, 2005.

E-mail: [email protected].
Mail:
Mr. Jack Van Dop
Federal Highway Administration
Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division
21400 Ridgetop Circle
Sterling, VA 20166

For more information and to read the Environmental Impact Statements, go to www.smartgrowth.net, click on Battlefield Bypass or Tri-County Parkway, and follow directions.