VDOT releases preliminary results of I66 inside the beltway study (Richmond: neighborhoods, subsidized)

[brooklynborndad]

Widening I-66 achieves little vs. cheaper alternatives - Greater Greater Washington

[tysonsengineer]

I actually agree with VDOT for once.

Yikes gonna have to re-evaluate my hatred for them.

I say toll I-66 AS LONG AS none of the money goes to Richmond. All of the funds should be split between a regional northern virginia transportation board and used specifically for whatever transportation projects that the NVTB decide will help residents the most, not what Richmond thinks will help the region the most.

I think tolling I-66 as well as turning one lane of route 50 into a rapid bus line will hugely help our regions traffic issues and provide much needed transit options for the huge population centers of South Riding, Chantilly, and Centreville who have no metro extension coming in our generation.

Again, NONE of the money from I-66 should be going to Richmond, because they have no fricken idea how to spend it, and it will likely just become another subsidized central virginia project off the hard work and backs of us northern virginians.

+1

[dkf747]

No tolls! Please! No!

[tysonsengineer]

Well evidently we (VDOT) can't pay to maintain our roads. So its either tolls, special tax, or let the road fall to crap (who are we kidding it already is).

You might be saying, BUT WE ALREADY SEND GAS TAX TO VDOT TO PAY FOR IT! Yes but they are too busy building 460 down in the boondocks to make all of that 2 million dollars in trucking fees a year to upkeep our highways which are their responsibility.

[Fallout Zone]

The first thing they need to do is get rid of the hybrid exemption, and then see what the traffic patterns are.

[Carlingtonian]

There's really no more room to expand it. I think it made sense to get rid of the 3-lanes-into-2 bottleneck that existed till recently, but any further expansion would require getting rid of the shoulders (which would be unsafe).

I'm 100% against tolls--except perhaps for those coming from outside the Beltway. Arlington had to endure having its neighborhoods torn up when I-66 was built, and VDOT reneged on the promise back then never to expand it. And so we now have everyone from OTB driving through en route to DC. We've already "paid" by having some of Arlington's quality of life sacrificed for the convenience of those living further out. Charging Arlingtonians to use a road in our own county would not be remotely fair. (I think drivers of cars with Arlington decals should be allowed to be on 66 solo--but I don't think that idea would get much traction.)

Definitely get rid of that ridiculous hybrid exemption. One of our cars gets 36 mpg highway but isn't a hybrid. Plus, Prius drivers are some of the worst out there--always riding the brakes and going super-slow in the left lane. (We have some super-nice neighbors who own a Prius--but I wouldn't wanna be stuck behind them.)

[brooklynborndad]

1. IIUC the hybrid exemption has already ended, but vehicles with existing hybrid plates are grandfathered in

2. As of now, SOV drivers can't use the highway at rush hour anyway. So tolling loses them nothing (at least for peak users) HOV3 drivers will still be able to use the highway for free. Only losers (at peak) would be the HOV2 users. But IIUC they also assume a conversion from HOV2 to HOV3 regardless of chosen option. So only losers are off peak drivers - when the toll should be relatively low (I assume this would be a variable toll, like that on the Beltway)

3. Since, unlike the beltway lanes, the toll $$ aren't needed to build the lanes (assuming they don't go with the widening option) I assume that money could be used towards transportation improvements in Arlington.

Note, all alts assume SOME further widening on i66 - but it would be already proposed spot improvements, rather than adding an extra lane for the length.

[tysonsengineer]

I think the spot improvements are the Ballston exit and Rosslyn exits for Arlington. Correct, it has to do with the on/off ramps not the freeway through portions.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Definitely get rid of that ridiculous hybrid exemption. One of our cars gets 36 mpg highway but isn't a hybrid. Plus, Prius drivers are some of the worst out there--always riding the brakes and going super-slow in the left lane. (We have some super-nice neighbors who own a Prius--but I wouldn't wanna be stuck behind them.)

I agree with you on this.

The best way to encourage better MPG would be a carbon tax - which would incent not only alt fuel vehicles, but improved mileage conventional fuel vehicles - AND improved maintenance to improve mileage - AND better driving to improve mileage - AND more use of transit/bike/ped/carpooling/tripcombining. Absent such a policy, higher CAFE standards incent manufacturers to improve mileage for both alt fuel AND conventional fueled vehicles. The policy of giving privileges only to alt fueled vehicles, and only on the particular roads where HOV is imposed (for reasons that are not exclusively about fuel savings) is inefficient, and particularly galling to people. Of course it seems to be a policy that the Commonwealth has dropped.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

1. IIUC the hybrid exemption has already ended, but vehicles with existing hybrid plates are grandfathered in

2. As of now, SOV drivers can't use the highway at rush hour anyway. So tolling loses them nothing (at least for peak users) HOV3 drivers will still be able to use the highway for free. Only losers (at peak) would be the HOV2 users. But IIUC they also assume a conversion from HOV2 to HOV3 regardless of chosen option. So only losers are off peak drivers - when the toll should be relatively low (I assume this would be a variable toll, like that on the Beltway)

3. Since, unlike the beltway lanes, the toll $$ aren't needed to build the lanes (assuming they don't go with the widening option) I assume that money could be used towards transportation improvements in Arlington.

Note, all alts assume SOME further widening on i66 - but it would be already proposed spot improvements, rather than adding an extra lane for the length.

If I read the VDOT site correctly, even the grandfathering exemption ends this summer. I hope that is the case.

The main problem with a HOT lane is that you are going to induce a lot more traffic from SOVs who can afford the tolls. The HOV-3 only option has its own problems, and I am one of them. My wife and I drive in from Falls Church to Ballston. If we can't use 66, we will just spill over onto Washington Blvd with a bunch of other people (and Lee and 50). That'll just mess up Arlington's traffic further.