Homeowners Associations Protest Proposed VDOT Off-Ramp
Landmark-area residents say they are concerned about health risks from air pollution, but a VDOT environmental assessment says pollutant levels will remain low.
Several homeowners associations in the Landmark area are supporting residents' efforts to protest a proposed Virginia Department of Transportation HOT lanes off-ramp at Turkeycock Run on Interstate 395.
VDOT is currently building 29 miles of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes extending from Stafford County to the Edsall Road area in Fairfax County, just south of Alexandria. Turkeycock Run is the proposed end to the route.
See: Express Lanes to End Just Outside City; Residents Concerned
Members of an effort opposing the ramp, Concerned Residents of Landmark, say an independent study demonstrates that increased air pollution from the proposed project will result in serious, negative health impacts in surrounding communities. Area residents commissioned an independent study by Lee Engineering and Air Expertise Colorado, which concluded that:
- The project will significantly increase traffic on I-395 North and local secondary roads, contributing to area pollution levels.
- Increased pollution from VDOT’s project will result in significant violations of public health standards. Among the pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter spread easily.
- Both nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter permeate buildings and homes.
The Concerned Residents of Landmark now includes HOA backing and resident support from the following neighborhoods: Edsall Park, Overlook, Jefferson Green, Ridges at Edsall, Jefferson Square, Sentinel at Landmark, Kensington Court and Watergate at Landmark.
“What started as a small group of neighbors has grown into an organization encompassing concerned residents from neighborhoods throughout the Landmark area,” said Dave Rogers, one of the original members of Concerned Residents of Landmark, in a news release. “We are united in our concern about the negative public health impacts that will result if this ramp is built.”
More information from Concerned Residents of Landmark is available at www.delaytheramp.com.
VDOT Environmental Assessment Shows Low Nitrogen Oxide
VDOT representatives directed Patch to an environmental assessment approved by the Federal Highway Administration in December 2011 that tested two levels of emissions analysis: a regional analysis by the region’s Transportation Planning Board and a project-level analysis by VDOT consultants. The regional analysis found that nitrogen oxides, which contribute to the formation of ozone and fine particulate matter, were below what is federally permitted.
Also, the project-level analysis included a hotspot analysis for carbon monoxide and found peak CO concentrations were below federally-mandated levels at certain points along the corridor. This analysis also determined the project was within compliance of particulate matter standards and found no anticipated harmful impacts of mobile source air toxins.
VDOT predicts that 900 vehicles per hour will use the ramp during morning peak time in 2018.
Concerned Residents of Landmark spokeswoman Mary Hasty told Patch that VDOT’s study only looked at pollution along the entire project corridor and not specifically at the site of the proposed off-ramp.
“They are required to do a localized analysis, and that includes all impacts to the local environment,” Hasty said. “They failed to do that.”
Also, VDOT is asking people who live along I-95 between the Edsall Road and Duke Street exits to vote on whether they want sound walls constructed between their homes and the highway. VDOT has proposed concrete sound walls along both sides of I-395 between Edsall Road and Duke Street.
Hasty said she is neutral on the idea of sound walls.
“VDOT sound walls will drop decibels, but I don’t care if the sound is low and the pollution is high,” Hasty said. “I don’t want to pollution to be high. It’s an unacceptable trade-off.”
The I-95 HOT lanes, also called express lanes, are scheduled to open in late 2014.
Don Buch
10:04 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Despite all we consistently hear about “transit” being our only logical, viable transportation salvation, here goes another $1B on roads. It, plus profit to a foreign entity, will be paid for by incenting SOV (single occupancy vehicle) traffic (HOVs – high occupancy vehicles – not paying any tolls). In fact, the project went so far as to specifically “drop plans for commuter busses.”
As noted, the north-bound HOT (high occupancy toll, although it’s actually SOVs that pay the toll) lanes are now going to terminate just south of the Duke Street exit, forcing all the fee-paying SOV traffic in those lanes to merge into the general purpose lanes of I-395 – the most congested road in one of the most congested cities in the country. What is the logic of that? The vast majority of those vehicles are headed for the Pentagon, Crystal City or DC. Why do the 29 miles of HOT lanes dump these vehicles 6 or 8 miles south of where they want to go - apparently because Arlington doesn’t want the lanes to pass through their city? What will be the cost in terms of wasted fuel, wasted man-hours, increased emissions, increased accidents, frayed tempers, etc. on a roadway that already carries many hundreds of thousands of vehicles a day?
Lori Cohen
10:03 am on Sunday, March 3, 2013
Mr. Buch raises very important questions that need to be answered before construction begins.
Don Buch
10:04 am on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Apparently the HOV lanes are now intended to become HOT lanes 24/7. Thus those SOVs that currently wait to have the HOV restrictions lifted will no longer have any motivation to do so and, unless they want to pay the toll, they will now bring additional congestion to the general purpose lanes. This seems counter-productive.
It should be noted that VDOT’s own Environmental Assessment states that “Traffic forecasts for 2035 show…the level of service will deteriorate to ‘F’ throughout most of the corridor” and “In the general purpose lanes the design year 2035 levels of service are generally E and F…” So we have a 23 year plan that results in the general purpose lanes of our major transportation corridor designed (!) to operate at severely failing levels of service?
Despite many questions, the public remains with few answers.
Linda Egentowich
8:02 am on Friday, February 22, 2013
What's disappointing is the health of ~75,000 people is at risk and VDOT as well as the political leaders seem not to care. The Concerned Residents personally paid for nationally recognized experts to conduct traffic and air quality studies on the proposed ramp location--the study used the most modern EPA approved models and VDOT's traffic data. The results showed dangerous levels of NO2 and PM2.5 --20 times the EPA safety standards. Concerns were raised to VDOT and they registered little to no interest and hid behind their "regional" analysis. Concerns were raised to local leaders (Alexandria, Fairfax County and Mason District) and they've either failed to respond or responded by stating the problem is out of their hands and at higher political levels. Letters, e-mails and meeting requests to Virginia’s leaders (Governor McDonnell, Senators Warner and Kaine, Congressman Moran) have not been responded to. Shame on all the leader's for turning a blind eye to VDOT's failure to comply with the law AND for turning a deaf ear to their constituents.
Linda Egentowich
8:03 am on Friday, February 22, 2013
What's disappointing is the health of ~75,000 people is at risk and VDOT as well as the political leaders seem not to care. The Concerned Residents personally paid for nationally recognized experts to conduct traffic and air quality studies on the proposed ramp location--the study used the most modern EPA approved models and VDOT's traffic data. The results showed dangerous levels of NO2 and PM2.5 --20 times the EPA safety standards. Concerns were raised to VDOT and they registered little to no interest and hid behind their "regional" analysis. Concerns were raised to local leaders (Alexandria, Fairfax County and Mason District) and they've either failed to respond or responded by stating the problem is out of their hands and at higher political levels. Letters, e-mails and meeting requests to Virginia’s leaders (Governor McDonnell, Senators Warner and Kaine, Congressman Moran) have not been responded to. Shame on all the leader's for turning a blind eye to VDOT's failure to comply with the law AND for turning a deaf ear to their constituents.
AlexandriaHomeowner
12:15 pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013
I live next to the proposed off-ramp and never got any request to vote on a sound wall or anything else. VDOT lies.