Secretary of Transportation to speak at conference

By: Uriah Kiser | Inside NoVA
Published: September 08, 2009

After major setbacks to the proposed Interstate 95 and 395 High Occupancy Toll lane project, some key officials will gather this week to discuss the future of transportation in the region.

On Wednesday, the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance will hold its fifth annual “What You Need to Know about Transportation” seminar at 4:30 p.m. in McLean.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer, Virginia Railway Express CEO Dale Zehner, Metro chief John B. Catoe Jr., as well as representatives from the Virginia Department of Transportation are scheduled to appear.

I-66 improvements, extending VRE to Gainesville and Haymarket, the fourth lane extension on I-95, from Fairfax County Parkway to Occoquan, and the future of Metro will all be discussed at the meeting.
The three-hour summit will be open to the public and held at the Capital One Auditorium, at 1680 Capital One Drive.

Those who wish to attend are asked to call 703-883-1830 to register.

Last month Homer said poor economic conditions as well as mounting concerns from local governments have stalled a proposed plan to turn the existing HOV lanes on I-95 and 395 into toll lanes.

An agreement to turn those lanes into HOT lanes was anticipated to be finalized by the end of summer, but a federal lawsuit filed by Arlington leaders against the project grabbed the attention of project leaders.

At issue, county leaders said the toll lanes would bring increased congestion to their city streets. They also claim the state did not complete an environmental impact study that accurately measured the anticipated effects the additional traffic would bring.

They also said the lanes would bring additional air pollution to the county.

Proponents of the project said the toll lanes are needed as the jobs of more than 90,000 federal government workers will be moved to the I-95 corridor.

The setback does not affect the HOT lanes that are currently being built on the Capital Beltway, from Springfield to north of the Dulles Toll Road.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.