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HOT lanes, coming soon Date published: 7/29/2011
FEW THINGS are as maddening as being stuck in traffic. It wastes time, increases pollution, impedes business, and raises the blood pressure of many a commuter. But Fredericksburg-area residents can take heart: The Interstate 95 HOT lanes project is shifting into gear. The public-private partnership to build the high-occupancy toll lanes has been in the works since at least 2003. It's undergone mutations and surmounted hurdles (including a lawsuit by Arlington County) since then. But now, an environmental study is under way, and work could begin by next spring. Relief of congestion on I-95 can't come soon enough. Forty percent of area commuters head to Northern Virginia or Washington to work, and even though nearly half ride-share, the trip is often a bumper-to-bumper nightmare. Arlington County put a "not-in-my-backyard" block on VDOT's original plan to extend the HOT lanes from the 14th Street Bridge to about Fredericksburg, actually suing the state. That's why VDOT decided to begin the HOT lanes in the Edsall Road area and extend them down to Garrisonville Road. Some worry that HOT lanes will increase their travel costs or set up a tiered transportation system in which rich folks get a quicker ride. Nonsense: Anyone who needs to get somewhere quickly benefits. Also, travel in the regular lanes improves because some traffic diverts to the toll lanes. HOT lanes have worked fine in other areas of the country, including on State Route 91 in Southern California, where they've been easing jams since 1995. HOT lanes also encourage carpooling because they are free for vehicles with three or more occupants. Work on the I-95 corridor lanes should take about three years. That's none too soon: Moves mandated by the last defense Base Realignment and Closing Commission will increase traffic on the artery beginning this fall. Businesses looking to locate in the region are dissuaded by the awful traffic. Family life is disrupted. The community suffers as civically productive time is squandered on the road. HOT lanes may not solve every commuter woe, but they're a welcome addition to the transportation grid.
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