From Martin Di Caro at WAMU Radio, Washington DC:
“Residents along Stenhouse Place in Dunn Loring, Virginia, did not buy their modest homes in a pretty cul-de-sac so they could be close to Interstate 66, its sound wall visible through the trees that line their street. They wanted to be close to the Dunn Loring Metro Station so they could commute on the Orange Line and their kids could walk to a nearby elementary school, all to avoid driving one of the worst congested highways in the region.
But residents say their houses will be the first to go when the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) begins construction in 2017 to widen the I-66 right-of-way, essentially paving over their transit-oriented lives to make way for more cars.
“We decided to have a smaller house, pay more for that small house, and then be able to take the Metro every day, so we wouldn’t contribute to traffic and pollution, and everything that goes along with commuting every day,” said Marcia Hook, an attorney who has lived with her husband in their Stenhouse Place home for three years.
“My husband and I and our neighbors are being punished for doing exactly what we have been told to do all along, which is live close to where you work and use public transit,” she added.
Transform 66 Wisely 