OUTER BELTWAY

ADVANCES IN

VIRGINIA HOUSE

2 Potomac River Crossing Bills Go Before

Subcommittee in Richmond Thursday

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas aren't over yet for supporters of the long-delayed Washington D.C. Outer Beltway. Tomorrow morning in Richmond, two Outer Beltway-related bills will be put in the hands of a Virginia House Rules Subcommittee on Studies. And, no, I didn't make up the name of that body.

The most exciting of the two bills is written by Republican J. Randall Minchew (District 10). House Bill HJ-131 calls for a VDOT study of the potential "extension of Virginia Route 28 across the Potomac River into Maryland and the inclusion of Virginia Route 28 in the Interstate Highway System."

To understand this, Herman, set the Wayback Machine for when the northern arc of the Outer Beltway consisted of two parts: Route 28 and what is today known as the Fairfax County Parkway on the Virginia side of the Potomac, and the Rockville Freeway on the Maryland side. The two highways were to be joined by a bridge on top of a (never-constructed) dam near Riverbend Park.

Wealthy downcounty residents in Montgomery predictably howled, and the Outer Beltway was moved north to Gaithersburg's "backyard." This left a right-of-way then designated as the Rockville Facility or Rockville Freeway. Similar NIMBYs and politicians killed the freeway, which would have connected Falls Road with the ICC near Indian Spring Country Club.

Regular readers of this blog are quite familiar with the Rockville Freeway. I believe this missing highway is a critical link between exploding growth centers in White Flint, Burtonsville, White Oak and Columbia. That is why I continue to advocate for its construction to be included in the master plan, so it will be eligible for federal funds.

The problem is, the Maryland political establishment does not have any desire to end the gridlock - and lack of Dulles Airport access - that scares away so many large employers from relocating to Montgomery County.

They never built anything, until Gov. Bob Ehrlich got the ICC launched.

But Virginia quietly kept at it. Over the years, they've slowly worked to upgrade Route 28 and the FCP to interstate standards.

Last year, the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board advanced the Tri-County Parkway as a "corridor of statewide significance." The CTB and Gov. Bob McDonnell have done a simply magnificent job of moving the Virginia pieces of the Outer Beltway forward. It is the responsible thing to do given that Loudoun County has grown by 80% over the last decade.

That corridor, which is a more westward alignment for an Outer Beltway, is the subject of the second bill, HJ-134. That bill calls for a study of the "economic impact" of that "corridor of statewide significance."

Ultimately, over the next century, there are as many as five new Potomac crossings worth studying: The I-266 Three Sisters Bridge by Georgetown University, the Arizona Avenue Bridge, Route 28 and/or the Tri-County Parkway (only one of those is likely to be funded), and the long-discussed Western Bypass bridge near Point of Rocks.

Someday, growth will require that all of these bridges be built. New Urbanism - when done right, such as Bethesda Row - will continue to flourish inside the Beltway, and we have to complete our Metro system. But those who can't afford $800,000 condos and $2,000,000 McMansions will continue to flee to Fredericksburg, Loudoun, Frederick, Hagerstown and Westminster. Those populations will have to be served by highways or long-distance commuter trains. They seek single family homes, backyard cookouts, suburban parks, and lower taxes. That lifestyle is simply not available to them at an affordable price in the D.C. area.

More politicians are coming on board. None is more significant than Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who endorsed a new Potomac crossing last year. Warner brings nearly unlimited personal wealth, popularity, business connections, and inside-the-Beltway cocktail crowd respect. When Warner speaks, people listen, and wallets open.

Remember, these new roads and bridges won't just carry cars, but new Metro lines and bicycle paths, as well.

New obstacles to completion of the Metropolitan Branch bike trail in Montgomery County show that it's not just highway plans that fall victim to misguided notions.

The future of transportation is multimodal. Virginia gets that, and tomorrow is an exciting day for everyone else in our region who believes that, too.