Following news of the Governor Ralph Northam’s plans to invest nearly $4 billion to passenger rail, and to hike the gas tax, transportation officials are planning another round of meetings on Interstate 95.
They estimate it will cost $12.5 billion to add a new lane in each direction of the interstate, between Thornburg and the Occoquan River. When it is done, they said, it’ll already be congested.
That was the initial findings of a study of the highway, from North Carolina to Maryland. This latest round of meetings will update residents on the study before it heads to the General Assembly.
Virginia Department of Transportation press release | The Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, under the leadership of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), have been studying Virginia’s 179 miles of the Interstate 95 corridor between the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria, Virginia and the North Carolina border.
The public is invited to attend the third set in a series of in-person meetings, planned for Jan. 27-30 along the corridor.
As requested in similar resolutions from both chambers of the legislature (Senate Joint Resolution 276 and House Joint Resolution 581) during the 2019 General Assembly session, the CTB has initiated a data-driven study to develop the I-95 Corridor Improvement Plan which identified key problem areas along the corridor, potential targeted solutions and areas for additional review and study.
Feedback provided by members of communities, industries, and other stakeholders are being considered as team members finalize the study and prepare a draft plan. The CTB plans to report the study’s findings to the General Assembly during the 2020 General Assembly session.
This final series of meetings will be focused on reviewing results of the study’s findings, which include development of a corridor-wide operations and arterial roadway upgrade plan for implementation. Locations requiring additional study have also been identified. The meetings will include a brief presentation followed by an open house, which will allow attendees to speak one-on-one with study team members.
Public meetings will be held at the below-listed dates and times at the noted locations.
