Tag: Outer Beltway
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When the Bubble Pops
by James A. Bacon Northern Virginia is so much more prosperous than the Rest of Virginia that it’s difficult for we RoVians to appreciate what is happening north of the Rappahannock. But the picture isn’t pretty. Gripped by the realities of sequestration and budget cuts, the Washington region has one of the worst-performing economies in…
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Terry McAuliffe: Working Hard to Make His Own Mistakes
Governor Terry McAuliffe is working hard to clean up the transportation boondoggles of the McDonnell administration — but how many new boondoggles will he create of his own making? Yesterday, the governor announced $13.1 billion in transportation capital expenditures after making final adjustments to the state’s Six-Year Improvement Plan. In the announcement, McAuliffe made much of…
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Whither McAuliffe on the Bi-County Parkway?
Over at the D.C. Streets Blog, Katie Pierce asks whether Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe will give thumbs up or thumbs down to the Bi-County Parkway. The answer: Nobody knows. (She quoted me in the article but I didn’t shed much light.) Still, it’s interesting that D.C. Streets, a pro-smart growth publication with a focus on Washington’s…
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MWAA Gets Its Kicks on Route 606
by James A. Bacon Construction of the “Dulles Loop,” 18 miles of high-capacity roadway around Washington Dulles International Airport, will take a big step forward with the recently announced $106 million widening of Rt. 606 along the airport’s western edge. Financing will come from multiple sources, including $40.5 million from the Virginia Department of Transportation,…
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The Ladies of Pageland Lane
In Prince William County populist conservatives and liberal smart-growthers have found common ground in fighting Northern Virginia’s proposed Bi-County Parkway.
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McDonnell Team to Spend $289,000 in Taxpayer Money to Sway Taxpayers on Bi-County Parkway
by James A. Bacon The McDonnell administration has agreed to pay a Washington, D.C., communications consultancy $289,000 to help win public support for the proposed Bi-County Parkway in Northern Virginia. The details are laid out in a Scope of Services agreement obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas. The…
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Air Cargo Case for Bi-County Parkway Crashes and Burns. Will McDonnell Pivot to New Justification?
by James A. Bacon Cognitive Dissonance, anyone? There is an interesting juxtaposition of articles in The Washington Post today…. The local section carried an article about George Mason University President Angel Cabrera expressing support of the Bi-County Parkway, while the business section ran an article about a new report emanating from The Center for Regional analysis at GMU,…
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Low Truck Volume on Rt. 234? Really?
by James A. Bacon Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton returned yesterday to his old stomping grounds in Prince William County to make the case to the Board of Supervisors, a body he once chaired, to back the Bi-County Parkway. The board took no action but, Connaughton certainly got a first-hand taste of the controversy the project…
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The Eminence Grise Behind the Bi-County Parkway
by James A. Bacon Everybody who’s followed the politics of real estate development in Virginia has heard the name of John T. “Til” Hazel, the high-profile attorney and developer who did so much to shape the human settlement patterns of Northern Virginia. Hazel was gregarious, combative and willing to campaign like a politician to counter…
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A Mortgage on NoVa’s Future
Dulles’ speculative bid to become a national air-cargo hub dominates the transportation, growth and economic-development agenda of Northern Virginia. Can it succeed? And if it does, will it crowd out other paths to prosperity?
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VDOT Terms Conservationist Alternative an Impractical “Thought Exercise”
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has fired back at conservation groups opposing Northern Virginia’s Tri-County Parkway, asserting that their proposed alternatives would cost $6 billion to implement compared to an estimated $450 million to build the parkway. Ignoring the realities of the transportation planning process, says VDOT, the “substitute vision”…
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Battle for the Battlefield
The Manassas Battlefield has become the scene of yet another irreconcilable conflict: this one involving VDOT, the park service and local residents.
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A Bump in the Road
Under withering criticism for a lack of transparency, the Commonwealth Transportation Board has agreed to a one-month delay before formally endorsing the McDonnell administration’s vision for the North-South Corridor.
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VDOT to Study Potomac Crossings
by James A. Bacon Three days ago the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) issued an innocuous press release announcing that it would sponsor and fund a study of future travel demand across the Potomac River. Specifically, the study will focus on cross-river traffic and demand between the Route 15 crossing north of Leesburg to the…
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So Begins the Fifth Battle of Manassas
The McDonnell administration wants to build a highway through the Manassas National Battlefield Park and foes are mobilizing to black the initiative. Call the coming clash the Third Battle of Manassas. Actually, no, don’t. The third battle occurred when mega-developer John. T. “Til” Hazel tried to build a giant mall next to the battlefield back…