Proposal for toll lane extension along Capital Beltway’s south side on hold

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Transportation Planning Board met on Wednesday Oct to vote to revisit the transportation plan next year WTOP Scott Gelman The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Transportation Planning Board met on Wednesday Oct to vote to revisit the transportation plan next year WTOP Scott Gelman A plan to extend toll lanes along an -mile stretch of the south side of the Capital Beltway is on hold after the D C region s Transportation Planning Board voted Wednesday to revisit the project next year The board which includes members from Maryland D C and Virginia local governments faced a decision whether to include the proposal in the Visualize transportation plan Projects have to be included in that long-term plan to be eligible for federal funding Related stories Despite concerns Fairfax Co supervisors tout proposed Beltway toll lane extension to cut commutes Decision looms on future of I- express lanes across Woodrow Wilson Bridge Electric car and plug-in hybrid automobile occupancy rules change Tuesday at midnight But leaders declared it can be added in the coming years as they hope to work toward a consensus on what the project has to look like in order to move forward It s not ready Prince George s County Council member Eric Olson disclosed It s not even close to being ready Virginia s Department of Transportation has touted the project as essential to improving commute times across the region In a comment to WTOP VDOT noted the vote will allow the state to continue its work on the project and resubmit it in to be included in the transportation plan These transportation improvements will provide near-term benefits and improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of travelers who rely on the I- Southside corridor each day as well as the surrounding residents and communities a spokesperson from the agency wrote The plan includes two express lanes in each direction starting on the western end near the Springfield interchange The proposed toll lanes would then continue eastward across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the interchange and there would be one express lane in each direction for the remaining portion of the project to the Maryland Highway interchange The plan includes over miles of bike and pedestrian infrastructure and a VDOT analysis uncovered more people would be moved during peak hours Though the idea gained advocacy from particular Northern Virginia leaders it faced opposition from state lawmakers and Maryland leaders Chosen had unanswered questions about the traffic impact to local streets and whether the proposal would allow for a Metro extension across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge We need to build consensus with the entire region Virginia State Sen Jennifer Boysko reported If it had gone for a vote an up-or-down vote on the project in current times it would not have passed Therefore we felt it was majority of prudent to move it forward by delaying yet again The board s approved action directs VDOT to create a overview to describe the efforts needed to reach a consensus and how to move forward Local leaders are hoping to receive the statement next year The reality is these types of big projects none of them are easy Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn explained They re all contentious They involve a lot of moving parts in this situation multiple jurisdictions But that s the job of ruling body That s what we do During the masses comment portion of Wednesday s meeting speakers overwhelmingly urged the board to oppose advancing the toll lane project Katrena Moody for one declared the decision is being drawn out longer than it should be because everything is going to bottom out in Maryland and that has a strong effect on the people in Maryland as far as traffic backing up costing more money there Earlier this month several Maryland state lawmakers wrote a letter to acting Transportation Secretary Samantha Biddle highlighting equity and environmental concerns Jason Stanford president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance reported a large number of people recognize the corridor is extremely vital for our region and that we need to have a path forward to helping people who are stuck in traffic day in and day out and I think this gives us an opportunity to continue that conversation The project is not dead Alcorn commented and it can be added to the necessary plan that will make it eligible for federal funding at a future time I don t think anyone should think about this project as being on the five-yard line D C Council member Matthew Frumin commented There is a lot for work to do before we come up with a approach for this corridor that can work for everyone Source