OUTER BELTWAY,

NEW POTOMAC CROSSING

OFFICIALLY ON THE

TABLE

Governors McDonnell, O'Malley Begin

Discussion on Top Regional

Transportation Priority

Isn't it great to be ahead of the curve? In addition to advocating for the construction of the DC Outer Beltway on this blog, I've also been keeping you up to date on the small moving parts behind the scenes on the issue. Like the "Outer Beltway bills" in Richmond, the redesignation of corridors, Sen. Mark Warner getting on board, etc.

So now that it is being discussed at the highest level, regular readers have known this was coming long ago.

Yes, the Outer Beltway is finally going to happen after 60 years of delay.

What does the Outer Beltway mean for Bethesda? It means great news: finally, the gridlock between Tysons Corner, the I-270 spur and Gaithersburg will be relieved. If the Rockville Freeway is also built, the spur backups would be entirely eliminated. With eventual completion of the I-270 widening, the Watkins Mill interchange, and the M-83 Highway, I-270 would essentially be jam-free.

If I-95 were one day completed through DC - as it was planned to - and the North Central Freeway and Northern Parkway were built, so too would the Beltway gridlock be a memory of the past.

But in a day of tight budgets, the Potomac Crossing is the first step.

Where will the Outer Beltway go?

There are only two reasonable route options, and only two matching connections on the Virginia side.

On our side, we have the ICC/I-370 (the final Outer Beltway alignment chosen by planners in the 1970s), and the Rockville Freeway right-of-way (Rockville Facility).

The ICC is the likely choice, as it now reaches the Sam Eig interchange of 270, as well as I-95 at its eastern end. And it's already built.

The Rockville Freeway/Facility provides access to both interstates, as well. Currently known as Matthew Henson State Park, this highway facility reaches the ICC near Indian Spring Country Club. Hence I-95 traffic could take the ICC, and exit onto the future Rockville Freeway.

The Rockville Freeway would then connect to the existing Montrose Parkway (a silly road squatting on a portion of the Rockville Freeway right-of-way). Originally, the freeway was to occupy the full west portion of Montrose Road over 270. That right of way remains all the way to Falls Road. In fact, I have seen the real estate records for the purchases of land around the future freeway's intersections with Seven Locks Road and Falls Road. (Cloverleaf interchanges would have been built at both).

Two advantages the Rockville Freeway alignment would have over the ICC are shorter distance to Virginia (hence, far cheaper), and a clearer path to the Potomac River west of 270 (cheaper yet! Those eminent domain seizures and lawsuits are expensive).

Originally, the Rockville Freeway was planned as the Outer Beltway, and was to cross the Potomac near Virginia's Riverbend Park.

That brings us to the waiting connections across the river.

The two options are VA Rt. 28, and VA Rt. 286 (formerly SR 7100) a.k.a. Fairfax County Parkway.

In a world of sensible people, both get connected to Maryland. But it's complicated.

The Rockville Freeway was designed to line up with the Fairfax County Parkway to create the western half of the Outer Beltway. Once the ICC alignment was chosen for the Outer Beltway, planners dropped the Rockville Freeway crossing.

At that point, planners on both sides began to consider the Rt. 28/Dulles Airport corridor for the Virginia portion of the Outer Beltway.

If the ICC is selected as the Potomac Crossing route, you can be pretty sure it will connect with Rt. 28 (a.k.a. Sully Road for its northern section).

Wait a minute, you might ask, why would they take the longer route?

Good question!

To answer it, pretend you are a leprechaun. I'm serious.

Now open Google Maps, and search for "Dulles Town Center" (Sterling, VA).

Ok, just to the left of that is Sully Road. Now, Lucky the Leprechaun, scroll south on Sully Road, and start counting the cloverleafs. Each one of those is a grade-separated interchange (like the Beltway, the Outer Beltway will have exits, not traffic signaled intersections).

Wow, this is your lucky day! There are a ton of them!

Now look at Fairfax County Parkway. Uh-oh. Lots of work to be done.

One of the many stealth actions smarter planners on the Virginia side have taken is to prepare Rt. 28 for interstate highway designation.

They've also taken smaller steps towards that on the Fairfax County Parkway, but as you can tell from the map, it's nowhere near ready. 28 needs work too, once you get into Centreville. But there's plenty of room there to expand.

So if you're gambling, put your money on the ICC-370-Potomac River Bridge-VA Rt. 28 alignment.

There's plenty of time and room to bring Fairfax County Parkway up to interstate standards, and one day connect it to the future Rockville Freeway via another Potomac River bridge, as originally planned.

How will the Outer Beltway be completed?

It's interesting. Remember I told you a few weeks back my prediction that the ICC will be extended to Bowie? That gets you to MD Rt. 301.

Now, take VA Rt. 28 to its end. Then take Route 17. You've got an interchange with I-95 there as you head east. You've made a critical connection with Fredericksburg. Now keep following 17 east, and then Rt. 218 east. Eventually, you connect to...

Rt. 301! You've made a complete circle. An Outer Beltway.

But there are many alternative routes to accomplish that.

Right now, expect the governors to concentrate on the bridge crossing, and handling interstate volumes between western Montgomery County and the Dulles area.

And, alas, rumor has it that there will be tolls!

VIRGINIA HOUSE

RULES COMMITTEE

TO RECEIVE

NEW POTOMAC RIVER

CROSSING STUDY BILL

TODAY

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

Del. J. Randall Minchew's bill requiring a Virginia Department of Transportation study of extending Route 28 into Montgomery County, MD, advances in Richmond today.

House Bill HJR-131 was approved by a House subcommittee last Thursday, and arrives at the full House Rules Committee this afternoon at 4:00 PM.

A defacto step towards completion of a DC Outer Beltway, the bill also mandates that the state request Interstate status for Route 28. Although the logical connection today would be Sam Eig Highway (I-370) on the Maryland side, it is interesting to note that Route 28 was originally destined to connect with the never-built Rockville Freeway near Riverbend Park, via a six-lane Outer Beltway atop a dam.

Minchew's bill passed the House Rules Studies Subcommittee by a 4-1 vote last Thursday. Del. Kenneth Alexander (D - District 89) cast the lone dissenting vote. Opposition is strong among environmentalists and a faction of developers who profit from traffic gridlock via "smart" growth policies.

But the growing support for new Potomac River crossings reflects the acceptance of reality: cars aren't going away, and will only get cleaner. And while developers and the politicians they get elected claim they're building to serve the young, the elderly, and young families "seeking vibrant urban lifestyles and walkable communities," data shows the opposite. With the exception of the District itself, those demographics are fleeing the inner suburbs for Loudoun, Stafford, Frederick, Carroll and Washington counties.

In addition to the Rockville Freeway, M-83 Midcounty Highway Extended, and the completion of I-70 to I-170 and I-95 in Baltimore, new Potomac River crossings remain essential missing pieces in our region's transportation system.

For the sake of jobs, and quality of life, let's hope the committee approves this bill and advances it to the next step in the process today.

OUTER BELTWAY

STUDY ADVANCES

IN

VIRGINIA HOUSE

Virginia House Bill HJR-131 has been approved by the House Rules Studies Subcommittee. The bill, sponsored by Del. J. Randall Minchew (R-District 10), mandates a Virginia Department of Transportation study of a new Potomac River crossing into Montgomery County. It would also explore a request for inclusion of Route 28 as part of the federal interstate system.

The bill now goes to the full House Rules Committee.

One small step for man; one giant leap for DC area drivers.

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.