The
Arlington Coalition on Transportation (
ACT) is a citizens group formed to oppose the construction of
Interstate 66Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
through Arlington,
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The focal activity of ACT was the conduct of a lawsuit filed against the
Virginia Department of TransportationThe Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...
in 1971 in
district courtThe United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
. This small citizen's group, founded by Jim and Emelia Govan, actually defeated the powerful
Virginia Highway CommissionThe Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...
, as the agency was then known. After considerable further legal and technical struggles a compromise solution was reached to create a scaled down highway segment, including a transit element.
Early history of the I-66 conflict
In the year 1956 the Virginia Highway Commission (later the
Virginia Department of TransportationThe Virginia Department of Transportation is the agency of state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. Headquartered in Downtown Richmond, VDOT is responsible for building, maintaining, and operating the roads, bridges and tunnels in the...
) proposed Interstate 66 to link Washington, D.C. to the planned
Interstate 81Interstate 81 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island at the Canadian border, where the Thousand Islands Bridge connects it to Highway 401, the main freeway...
, a total project length of 76 miles. The citizens of Arlington were concerned about the impacts of this project through their county, especially with regard to air quality,
noiseRoadway noise is the collective sound energy emanating from motor vehicles. In the USA it contributes more to environmental noise exposure than any other noise source, and is constituted chiefly of engine, tire, aerodynamic and braking elements...
and community disruption. In 1971, ACT was the
plaintiffA plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
in an action against the Virginia Highway Commission, having filed a suit in the U.S. district court. ACT won this case after a decision by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...
,
Arlington Coalition on Transportation v. Volpe, 458 F.2d 1323 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1000 (1972). The court paid special attention to the plaintiff's expert calculations and testimony projecting that air quality levels would violate Federal ambient air quality standards as set forth in the
Clean Air ActA Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
and violate
United States Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentThe United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
guidelines for ambient noise.
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, which paid little attention to the conflict, suddenly became a supporter of Arlington Coalition on Transportation after their stunning victory in the Fourth Circuit. Studies of air quality and noise continued under the direction of ESL Inc., who this time were working directly for the Virginia Department of Transportation under the agreement reached between
plaintiffA plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
and
defendantA defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
. These studies, part of the court-mandated
environmental impact statementAn environmental impact statement , under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An EIS is a tool for decision making...
, led to further highway design mitigation, particularly related to acoustical impacts.
The conflict continued into the mid-1970s, until
Secretary of TransportationThe United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...
William T. ColemanWilliam Thaddeus Coleman, Jr. was the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation, from March 7, 1975 to January 20, 1977, and the second African American to serve in the Cabinet...
intervened to mediate the dispute and arrived at the "Coleman Decision," which amounted to a reduced four-lane highway with a
Washington MetroThe Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
element.
Events to current times
The four lane version of
Interstate 66Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
was completed through Arlington in the year 1982. Tinkering with variations of High occupancy vehicle lanes occurred in the 1980s, and in 1999 Virginia Governor Gilmore announced a plan to widen both side of I-66 within the Beltway. Soon thereafter a new organization,
Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation, was formed to oppose further widening of I-66. This successor group to ACT
questions the break in precedent from the intent of the "Coleman Decision", the lack of integrated transportation planning in the corridor, and further environmental impacts to Arlington.
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