HOT lanes in Virginia Hearings, May 20-21

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   May 14, 2008 - 6:26am

	Darci Marchese, WTOP Radio

	

	WASHINGTON - Do you have something to say about the High Occupancy Toll coming to the Capital Beltway? Now is your chance. 

	

	The Virginia Department of Transportation will hold two public hearings next week to educate the public on the five-year project that will bring HOT lanes to the Beltway from the Springfield Interchange to north of the Dulles Toll Road at Old Dominion Drive/Route 738. 

	

	The hearings will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 at Marshall High School in Falls Church. 

	

	VDOT will have displays and presentations. People will be given up to three minutes to speak. Property impacts, relocation assistance policies and construction schedules also will be discussed. 

	

	The project will start in July. VDOT crews are already clearing brush and trees in the area. When the project is completed, two new lanes will run in each direction. The lanes will be available to carpoolers, buses and people willing to pay extra able to use them. 

	

	You must register with VDOT in order to speak at the hearings. You can register in person before the hearings start, or submit questions via e-mail to Meeting_Comments@VDOT.Virginia.gov" with the subject "Capital Beltway HOT Lanes" in the heading. 

	

	Project information can also be viewed at VDOT's Northern Virginia District Office in Chantilly or VDOT's Project Office in Springfield.

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3-For-HOV Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 03 Dec 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote 3-For-HOV Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: HOT lanes in Virginia Hearings, May 20-21 Posted: 14 May 2008 at 8:46am
	May 14, 2008 - 6:26am Darci Marchese, WTOP Radio WASHINGTON - Do you have something to say about the High Occupancy Toll coming to the Capital Beltway? Now is your chance. The Virginia Department of Transportation will hold two public hearings next week to educate the public on the five-year project that will bring HOT lanes to the Beltway from the Springfield Interchange to north of the Dulles Toll Road at Old Dominion Drive/Route 738. The hearings will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 at Marshall High School in Falls Church. VDOT will have displays and presentations. People will be given up to three minutes to speak. Property impacts, relocation assistance policies and construction schedules also will be discussed. The project will start in July. VDOT crews are already clearing brush and trees in the area. When the project is completed, two new lanes will run in each direction. The lanes will be available to carpoolers, buses and people willing to pay extra able to use them. You must register with VDOT in order to speak at the hearings. You can register in person before the hearings start, or submit questions via e-mail to Meeting_Comments@VDOT.Virginia.gov" with the subject "Capital Beltway HOT Lanes" in the heading. Project information can also be viewed at VDOT's Northern Virginia District Office in Chantilly or VDOT's Project Office in Springfield.

Luddite Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Luddite Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 May 2008 at 3:37pm
	public hearing = too late See first sentence in 5th paragraph.

NoSUV Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote NoSUV Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 May 2008 at 9:29am
	This is for the beltway, not the 95/395 lanes. However, the public comment for that project was also scheduled to last year to happen about now, and also too late to make a difference.

n/a Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote n/a Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2008 at 3:55pm
	quote: Originally posted by NoSUV This is for the beltway, not the 95/395 lanes. However, the public comment for that project was also scheduled to last year to happen about now, and also too late to make a difference. For once, NoSUV, we agree. These public/private 'partnership-suckerbets' are some of the largets transfers of public assets into private/corporate hands ever. And they are all supported by the current USDOT adminsitration. I'm sure former President Eisenhower is turning over in his grave as his legacy and gift to the US citizens, the National Interstate Highway System, is hijacked by local DOT adminsitrations looking for a short-term solution to their long-term budget problems. In this case, VDOT is selling out the present and future rights to charge tolls on our public highways, in exchange for present-day-value budget shortfall fixes. I suspect that VDOT will face similar budget problems in the future, but will have nothing left to sell to raise the needed funds. Of course, by then the current administration will have retired and left these problems for future generations to solve. Of course, in the meantime those DOT admins responsible for this mess will enjoy fruitful careers, while the rest of us finance their back-room deals.