Officials are looking for solutions to calm the snarls that tie up commutes daily on Interstate 66, the perennially clogged highway that serves as a key corridor from Northern Virginia into the District.
Several county officials, state lawmakers and a member of Congress are hosting a town hall meeting on Monday evening in Fairfax County to share ideas and gather additional ones from the drivers who slog along the route each day. The need is urgent, they say, and the momentum is gathering.
“We’ve got to do something in that corridor,” said Dan Scandling, spokesman for Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. “This is a bipartisan issue. This is a quality of life issue for Northern Virginia.”
In the long term, some officials are pushing for an extension of Metro’s Orange Line along the corridor. But even its proponents say that would be costly and at least about 10 to 15 years in the future.
Instead, Monday’s meeting is focused on smaller proposals that tweak the existing infrastructure. The town hall meeting was originally scheduled for February but was postponed because of snow.
» WHAT: Town Hall meeting on easing Interstate 66 traffic
» WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday
» WHERE: Fairfax County Government Center, 12011 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, Virginia 22035
Some small steps already have been taken. Transportation officials began using ramp traffic meters in both directions starting in December, as the reverse commute started becoming more popular. The ramp meters work essentially like traffic lights at the base of an entrance ramp, helping to stagger the flow of traffic onto the highway.
Among the new ideas discussed so far:
» Bus rapid transit lines have been studied along the corridor, but officials are worried that many drivers don’t understand how the special buses would work. They plan to give a presentation Monday on the lines, which often travel in dedicated lanes or are allowed to jump past other traffic.
» Bus rapid transit lines have been studied along the corridor, but officials are worried that many drivers don’t understand how the special buses would work. They plan to give a presentation Monday on the lines, which often travel in dedicated lanes or are allowed to jump past other traffic.
» Shoulder lanes are open to traffic periodically on Mondays through Fridays, but Virginia Del. Jim LeMunyon, R-Chantilly, whose district borders the interstate, says traffic sensors could be added to open them on weekends or other times when needed.
» Metro could add signs to the highway showing how many parking spaces are left at its rail station parking lots, he said, so cars do not needlessly pull off and find no spots at the parking garages.
» Officials could allow non-high-occupancy-vehicle-lane traffic past a couple of interchanges inside the Capital Beltway so commuters could park at the West Falls Church Metrorail stop and take the train into the city.
