Transform 66 Wisely

Would you like to help your local wetlands and basements from I-66 expansion impacts, flooding, and pollution?

Transform 66 Wisely has been made aware that FAM Construction, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, and VDOT have applied for (Clean Water Act) waterway impact permits  from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACE).

ACE requires permits when waterways, streams, wetlands, and watersheds may be impacted with environmental damage from projects.   Without public input, the I-66 request is set to be rubber stamped.  Read on to learn how you can comment electronically before the September 4 deadline.

The I-66 widening project will have a significant impact on the area’s streams and wetlands.  Nearly all of the proposed storm water management facilities were removed from the project design since 2015.  Paving over an enormous amount of land with impervious blacktop causes rain and snow melt to quickly enter waterways, making flash floods downstream a regular occurrence.   To see the effects of unmitigated storm water impacts from I-495 widening/Express Lanes, take a walk on the Accotink Trail between Fairfax and Lake Accotink.  In the past eight years since the beltway widening, the creek shores have undergone severe erosion, while tributaries downstream from the beltway storm water outfalls undergo regular flash floods in frequent rain storms.  This storm water is contaminated with oils and chemicals, and winter storm treatments bring chlorides and other poisons into your waterways.

For I-66 widening, the application includes no mitigation at all for “temporary stream impacts,” with no indication of how long “temporary” impacts may exist.  (The project is expected to take at least 5 years to build).  The project seeks to purchase “wetland credits” so wetlands elsewhere may be preserved while wetlands downstream from I-66 may be destroyed forever.  Other strategies include “responsible mitigation” in lieu of buying more credits for wetlands, without specifying what the “responsible mitigation” actually entails.

Currently, ACE believes that “(l) no environmental impact statement will be required; (2) all required coordination under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884, as amended) has already been completed by the lead Federal Agency (Federal Highways Administration) and no further coordination is required; and (3) all required consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act has already been completed by the lead Federal Agency (Federal Highway Administration) and no further coordination is required. Additional information might change any of these findings. ”

This is where you come in.  Please consider commenting and telling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that wetlands and waterways in our area deserve attention and protection.  The VDOT approved method is insufficient and falls far short of any meaningful protection for your environment.  We have witnessed how flash floods downstream of impervious paved areas have caused catastrophic flooding, including in Ellicot City Maryland, and throughout Northern Virginia this year.  The I-66 construction project can do far more, including pavements designed to allow storm water to trickle through and underground storm water management facilities that protect waterways while minimizing neighborhood impacts.

In addition, the public may request a public hearing for the project.  “Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the (ACE) District Commander within 30 days of the date of this notice, stating specific reasons for holding the public hearing. The District Commander will then decide if a hearing should be held. ”

Tell ACE that this corridor has few wetlands left, and “responsible mitigation” that includes permeable surfaces, underground storm water retention, and storm water faciltiies that protect downstream waterways, wetlands, and basements from I-66 project storm discharges.

Comments must be received by September 4, 2018. 

Comments on this project should be in writing and can be sent by either email to Lee.Fuerst@usace.army.mil, or by regular mail, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN:  CENAO-WRR-C), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia  23510-1011, and should be received by the close of business on September 4, 2018.

For more information, including the proposed non-mitigation and project impact maps see:

http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/Article/1591256/nao-2011-1300/

Since, the I-495 High Occupancy / Toll “express” lanes opened in 2012, McLean residents have noticed a big problem in their neighborhood: A lot more traffic.

Why is traffic worse?  The northbound I-495 “express” lanes end in McLean, near Old Dominion Drive.  Two lanes of HOT lane traffic must merge with four lanes of general beltway traffic.  Merging and a busy road mean traffic “friction,” choke points, and brake lights.  The situation has become bad that VDOT decided to add an extra merge lane beyond the Express Lanes, by re-purposing the safety shoulder / breakdown lane.  A red X appears in this lane outside of peak hours, but many drivers ignore the X.  Unfortunately, adding the lane only aggravated the merging before Georgetown Pike.

So, northbound travelers from the Tysons and McLean area, found a solution: Avoid the express lanes completely, and avoid I-495 for as long as possible.   Enter I-495 at Georgetown Pike via Balls Hill Road and nearby local roads.  This avoids much of the beltway backups in the area, until the nearby local roads became clogged too.

Naturally, McLean residents were not happy about high speed through traffic trying to zoom through their neighborhoods en route to the capital beltway.  So they began pressuring VDOT and their Fairfax County representative.

This pressure became active and vocal until the residents were sure they were heard.  How were they sure?  Because their Fairfax Supervisor John Foust and VDOT are now working together to ensure the Georgetown Pike entrance to I-495 North is closed to traffic from 1-7 p.m. on weekdays.

A radical plan that closes an Interstate entrance will have effects for many travelers, even those who never entered a McLean local street.  It will force many to backtrack to other freeway entrances.  But it will reduce cut through traffic on local streets, and this will benefit McLean.  It also requires federal approval to change interstate highway access.

Before the plan proceeds, the entire Board of Fairfax Supervisors may choose to provide support, and VDOT must conduct a trial to study data for the Federal Highway Administration.  This pilot period would last four months, and then VDOT would decide whether to formally request a permanent Beltway entrance closure.

It remains to be seen whether this proposal will be a net benefit.  It will likely help local McLean residents who don’t like traffic on their streets.  But travelers on the Beltway and trying to enter the Beltway from Great Falls, McLean, and other areas nearby will likely loose.   Does the contention between Interstate travelers and local residents sound familiar?  It does in Vienna and Dunn Loring, where government officials are choosing to prioritize long distance automobile commuters over local residents and transit oriented neighborhoods.

But one thing is more certain: When residents ban together and petition their government representatives together, things happen.  Just ask Fairfax Supervisor John Foust, who is choosing his constituents over Interstate travelers.

A public meeting for the Georgetown Pike Beltway Entrance closure proposal will take place on August 2, 7:00 PM at McLean High School.