Prince William County will not join Arlington County in a lawsuit over high-occupancy toll lanes on Interstate 95 and 395, arguing that elements of the lawsuit include unfair accusations of racism.
Arlington filed the suit against the Virginia Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation in August to halt the 56-mile project that stretches from Arlington, near the Pentagon, to Spotsylvania County along I-95/395. It argues for a comprehensive study on its impact on the environment and public health.
“We were set to join the Arlington lawsuit against VDOT,” said Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large.
But some parts of the suit gave county officials pause, he said, including a section arguing that the project would grant “unimpeded access on toll lanes” to “a financially able, privileged class of suburban and rural, primarily Caucasian residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.”
But Barbara Favola, chairman of the Arlington County Board, said the county’s attorneys simply addressed all the criteria in the National Environmental Policy Act, including economic and social justice.
“The elected leadership of the county did not take this lawsuit because of racial or socioeconomic impacts,” she said. “We really looked at this as a transportation project. We’re in this to get our concerns addressed.”
Neighboring Fairfax County formally supported the project last month.
Stewart said Prince William still may file its own suit. He said he is concerned it could hurt “slugging,” in which commuters in Prince William Countypick up passengers on their drive to work so they can use the HOV lanes.
“The incentive to carpool, or to slug, will be diminished” since single drivers can simply pay to drive in HOT lanes, he said.
The price of the HOT lanes will vary based on traffic conditions, and could range from 10 cents a mile during light traffic to a dollar a mile, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. The project is on hold because of financial concerns.
The Alexandria City Council will discuss the project at a work session Tuesday. The council passed a resolution in March withholding support for the project until questions on issues such as environmental documentation were “adequately addressed.”
