Northern Virginia delegates praised the Thursday announcement from the Virginia Department of Transportation that plans for High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on I-395 have been scrapped.
“It makes much more sense to terminate the HOT lanes at the Beltway – where traffic can be disbursed in a number of directions – rather than backing up traffic on 395,” said Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria.
Instead, VDOT is moving forward with a new project to create about 29 miles of HOT lanes on I-95 stretching from Stafford County to Fairfax County.
Plans for HOT lanes on I-395 inside the Beltway hit a snag because of a lawsuit Arlington had filed against the state and the federal government over the project, alleging that potential effects of air pollution on minorities living near the highway had not been considered.
Del. David Englin, D-Arlington, praised the decision to scrap plans for HOT lanes on 395, and described Arlington’s lawsuit as “moot” as a result of the new plans.
“I hope we can move beyond it in short order,” he said.
The plan also calls for a one-lane reversible ramp for HOV/transit only to give direct access to Seminary Road and the Mark Center site in Alexandria, which is expected to see a crush of traffic related to the influx of 6,400 military personnel as part of the federal government’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, said she was “cautiously optimistic” about VDOT’s plans.
