Community Corner

Protesters: Delay the I-395 HOT Lanes Ramp

Concerned Residents of Landmark held a public rally Saturday to protest the construction of the Interstate 395 HOT lanes off-ramp at Turkeycock Run.

Landmark resident and Vietnam veteran Sonny Morrow was exposed to Agent Orange during the war and has trouble breathing today. A new Interstate 395 HOT lanes off-ramp at Turkeycock Run, he’s afraid, will exacerbate his health problems.

“I think it’s going to be a lot harder breathing, and that’s what my issues are,” Morrow told Patch. “I have a hard enough time breathing in bad weather and when the pollutants are high, and this is not going to help whatsoever.”

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The Virginia Department of Transportation is constructing a high-occupancy toll lanes off-ramp in the Edsall Road area in Fairfax County, just south of Alexandria. On Saturday morning, Morrow joined the activist group Concerned Residents of Landmark for a rally to protest the ramp, which they believe will cause backups on I-395, more traffic on local streets and increases in nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter that will affect 75,000 people.

Turkeycock Run is slated to be the end terminus for 29 miles of HOT lanes beginning in Stafford County. The off-ramp was originally planned for Arlington County. Protesters on Saturday called on VDOT to suspend construction on the ramp, conduct a local environmental analysis and analyze alternate sites.

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Community members raised $70,000 to fund an independent study on the ramp’s local impacts. John Britton, an environmental attorney who was involved with the study, said the ramp will exacerbate traffic congestion and will violate the National Environmental Policy Act because VDOT has not evaluated all the impacts of construction.

“When you have something like that, you have an increase in air pollutants,” Britton told Patch. “It’s just stop-and-go. If you had the same number of cars going through, at a high speed, the pollutant levels would not be as high.”

The elderly, children and people with cardiovascular or pulmonary conditions will be most at risk, although everyone will be affected, he said.

VDOT maintains that an environmental assessment approved by the Federal Highway Administration in December 2011 found nitrogen oxides were below what is federally permitted along the corridor as a whole, that peak CO concentrations were below federally-mandated levels at certain points along the route and that the project was within compliance of particulate matter standards.

But Concerned Residents of Landmark member Debra Filippi called the ramp’s health impacts “devastating” and accused VDOT of failing to do its job.

“The toxins are going to be emitted into our neighborhoods and our communities, not down there in Stafford County,” she said. “VDOT and the public officials know this ramp is a health hazard, and that’s why they won’t talk to us, and that’s why they turn a deaf ear to us, and that’s why the refuse to meet with us or do a study—because they know the results. Shame on the leadership, and shame on you, VDOT.”

Local resident Dr. Michelle Bryce, who specializes in public health, told rally participants VDOT’s study failed analyze multiple toxic pollutants. The study commissioned by community members found that levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide would be up to 20 times higher than the maximum allowable standards for health and safety, Bryce said.

“We do have a very serious problem,” she said. “We have a problem because VDOT didn’t do their job. We have a problem because the majority of our public officials aren’t listening to us, and we have a problem because the traffic is going to get worse, and that’s going to have a huge public health impact.”

Also attending the rally was Alexandria City Councilwoman Del Pepper, who compared the fight against the ramp to the successful efforts to shut down the Alexandria power plant GenOn. “Your efforts deserve a response, and I am hopeful that this rally will get their attention and speed up VDOT’s response to you,” she said.

Councilman John Chapman also spoke, lauding the group for its hard work and diligence. “The concerns that you’ve all raised are very important to our community and deserve further consideration and study,” Chapman said.

He added: “As I was standing around here, I was listening to a parent that was talking about one of the reasons why she moved to this area was to keep her kids safe, out of harm and healthy. And I think that’s what parents want to do, and I think, as communities, that’s what we want to see in our future, we want our future to be healthy. And I think as we look at issues like this and as we fight for issues like this, that’s what we have to keep in mind.”

Filippi also read aloud letters of support from Alexandria Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg and Del. Kaye Kory, D-Fairfax.

View a photo gallery from the protest here.

Read more:

Speak Out: Should I-395 HOT Lanes End South of Alexandria?

Homeowners Associations Protest Proposed VDOT Off-Ramp

Construction to Begin on I-395 Express Lanes Flyover Ramp

Express Lanes to End Just Outside City; Residents Concerned about Impact


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