Posted on 07/11/2017 7:14:52 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The widening of Interstate 66 outside the Capital Beltway is bringing HOT lanes to one of the regions most congested corridors. It also will make room for bicyclists and pedestrians putting them on a trail next to one of the regions busiest and most congested highways.
The bike path, part of the $2.3 billion interstate expansion project, has drawn cheers and criticism from biking aficionados who welcome the addition of the trail but say, if built as proposed, users will be too close to cars whizzing by on the interstate and exposed to toxic exhaust fumes.
For about five of the projects 22.5 miles, the trail would be squeezed between the highway and the concrete wall that will serve as a buffer between traffic noise and adjacent neighborhoods.
It is air pollution, its noise, small particles that get kicked up from the highway, said Bruce Wright, a member of the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling. Imagine riding on this trail and there is really no place to go if you have a problem. You are right next to a very tall soundwall, and you are right next to a jersey barrier.
Neighbors, meanwhile, dont want the trail on their side of the wall. Officials with the Virginia Department of Transportation acknowledge the plan isnt ideal but say its an option that addresses the corridors right-of-way constraints and the opposition from neighbors who refuse to have the trail on their side of the wall.
Everybody is not getting the ideal situation, said Susan Shaw, director of Mega Projects for VDOT. It is a compromise. We are trying to have an approach that balances those impacts and benefits and get the best project that we can.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
They’re just mad there’s no stop signs for them to ignore
Does anyone else have the "What the hell?" reaction to the idea that a bicycle path is a logical addition to interstate funding?
It is because car doors aren’t as long as they used to be. ;-D
Effing traitors one and all.
and they want to raise the gas tax because there’s not enough money for highway construction
Thanks for straightening me out on that. I used to live in Vienna and I really really don’t miss that corridor outside the beltway.
Sadly, I was under the impression that Arlington had finally agreed to add an additional lane on its portion of 66, so it was wishful reading of the article on my part. The Arlington idiots will never budge on 66 even though there’s plenty of space for the additional lanes. They threw a fit over running HOT lanes on 395 through Arlington, all in the name of “air quality,” so we now have near empty HOV3 lanes and stifled traffic on the regular lanes that just spit fumes (see https://www.surrey.ac.uk/mediacentre/press/2017/latest-research-reveals-sitting-traffic-jams-officially-bad-you) all the way to the Fairfax line. So stupid.
They do so many ridiculous and expensive things here in the name of social engineering, such as turning 4 lane roads into 2 lanes w/ a bike lane, unnecessary side walk expansion, speed bumps, etc. They even tried to turn an access road along Rte 50 into a bike path that would have blocked not just parking but driveway & garage entrances for homeowners — for a 300 yard bike path that began and ended nowhere. Despicable.
But looking at the plans, I see I was wrong. They are going to do some widening starting 2018: http://inside.transform66.org/faqs/default.asp (click on Eastbound Widening).
I thought because they added the 2 lane overhead tolls that they were done, but they are not.
I think Oregon just slapped a $15 tax on bikes costing over $200.
Never mind that every bike lane in the country is next to traffic.
"...bicycles should be taxed..."
How in the world did you find a nine month old thread to comment on?
And I agree with you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.