Why Improve the
I-66 Corridor

  • Provide safety improvements
  • Accommodate projected travel demands
  • Expand opportunities for transit options
  • Reduce traffic rerouting to parallel roadways
  • Maintain or improve current operational levels during peak periods
  • Improve regional, local, and pedestrian accessibility to multimodal transportation facilities
  • Correct roadway design deficiencies
The need to improve I-66 is explained in more detail in the I-66 Purpose and Need Report, which was recently completed by the Study Team.

How to Get Involved

Call us on the Study Hotline
1-866-INFO I66
(1-866-463-6466)

Check out the Study Website
www.infoi66.com

E-mail comments or
questions to:
comments@infoi66.com

Mail comments or
questions to:
I-66 Study Office
8403 Arlington Blvd
First Floor, Suite 200
Fairfax, VA 22031

For web links to other projects
and studies in Northern Virginia, visit: www.virginiadot.org/ projects/pr-novamain.asp

Local Advisory Committee

Chair:
Vienna
Mayor Jane Seeman

Members:
Fairfax County
Chairman
Katherine K. Hanley
At Large
Supervisor
Gerald Connolly
Providence District
Supervisor
Michael R. Frey
Sully District

City of Fairfax
Mayor Robert F. Lederer

Prince William
Chairman
Sean Connaughton
At Large
Supervisor
Edgar S. Wilbourn, III
Gainesville District

Ex Officio:
Thomas F. Farley
District Administrator, VDOT Northern Virginia District
James H. Offutt
Citizen Representative
Karen J. Rae
Director, DRPT
Richard A. White
Chief Executive Officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority



 

Study Update


Multimodal: Having or involving more than one mode of transportation.

The I-66 Multimodal Transporation and Environmental Study (I-66 Study) is progressing toward a plan to improve mobility along the 24-mile I-66 corridor between I-495 in Fairfax County and U.S. Route 15 in Prince William County. Public and agency scoping, which marked the first step in defining study issues, was initiated in early 2002 with a series of public meetings.

The I-66 Study Team has recently reached another milestone: the completion of the Purpose and Need Report, which describes transportation problems and patterns in the I-66 corridor today and as anticipated in the future. The Purpose and Need Report identified traffic safety and congestion problems, as well as the lack of transit connections, as some of the most urgent issues in the corridor. This reflects and substantiates observations that were heard from frequent I-66 corridor travelers during the scoping process.

The Study Team is currently modeling and testing transportation conditions in the Study Area to determine the impact that improvements would have on the flow of travel in the I-66 corridor.

 


Study Finds that Most Travelers Who Begin Trips in Study Area have Destinations in Study Area

In preparation for developing alternatives that would improve travel conditions through the I-66 corridor, the Study Team is gathering additional transportation data. This pie chart reveals that most travelers (including highway, rail and bus travelers) who begin trips in the Study Area have destinations within the Study Area, rather than in traditional employment and shopping hubs like Washington, D.C. or Tysons Corner. See Study Area boundaries on map below.

I-66 Study Area


[click here for larger view]


Purpose and Need

In our last newsletter, we reported briefly on corridor issues or “problems” related to safety, crowding on highways and public transit, and a lack of connections between different modes of transportation. Since the fall, the Study Team has analyzed data relating to these problems, modeling corridor conditions and making projections of future growth. This analysis is documented in the Purpose and Need Report, which serves a vital function in an environmental study. By defining problems, it guides the identification of possible solutions or alternatives, allowing for comparison of different solutions in terms of their ability to solve transportation and mobility problems.

Common factors that help explain the need for a project often include:

  • Capacity of the transportation facility

  • Transportation system linkages

  • Transportation demand
  • Social demands
  • Economic development

  • Modal interrelationships

  • Safety and roadway deficiencies

  • The status of other projects in the study area
  • Legislation related to the study

The Study need identified in the Purpose and Need Report provides a snapshot of current highway and transit conditions in the corridor, as well as projections of the future assuming that the test elements under consideration are not built. See the following page for important findings of the I-66 Purpose and Need Report that illustrate a need for improvements in the corridor.


Purpose and Need Findings

Population/Employment 2000 and 2025

  • Most of the population growth surrounding the Study Area is projected to occur in eastern Loudoun County and Gainesville/Haymarket areas.
  • The Gainesville/Haymarket area is projected to experience the greatest percentage of employment growth.
  • By 2025, the Centreville area is projected to overtake the City of Fairfax area as the largest employment district in the Study Area.

Safety Characteristics

  • Crash, injury and death rates on I-66 continue to increase and exceed other comparable Virginia highways.

  • Emergency vehicle access is hindered.
  • HOV lane shifts are confusing.

  • Highway design deficiencies include close interchange spacing, inadequate distances for changing lanes, and a lack of lane continuity.

  • Shoulder lanes are used as travel lanes in peak periods.

Current Highway Characteristics

  • Traffic volumes are up in the corridor. Depending upon location, demand has increased from 49% to 222% since 1985.

  • In certain areas, existing traffic volumes exceed the 1999 I-66 Major Investment Study (MIS) forecasts for 2020.

  • Current daily traffic volumes reach up to 189,000 vehicles per day.

  • Peak period speeds in the prevailing direction of travel are less than 20 mph.

  • Motorists continue to seek alternate travel routes, sometimes taking parallel roadways and disrupting residential areas.

Current Transit Characteristics

  • Metrorail Orange Line ridership has increased 21% at Fairfax County stations from 1995 to 2001.

  • VRE Manassas Line ridership increased 36% between 1995 and 2001.

Intermodal Relationships

  • No direct bus connections exist from HOV lanes to Metrorail stations.

  • Compared to the rest of the corridor, fewer transit choices exist west of Route 123.

  • There is limited bike/pedestrian access along and across I-66.

Future Highway Characteristics (2025)

  • Up to 72,000 additional vehicles are expected in the corridor by 2025.

  • Throughout the corridor, projected 2025 traffic volumes far exceed predictions for 2020 traffic volumes developed in the earlier Major Investment Study (MIS).

  • Level, extent, and duration of congestion is expected to increase.

Future Transit Characteristics (2025)

  • Average daily ridership at the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Station is projected to increase by 65%.

  • At the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Station, average daily ridership is projected to increase by 60%.

  • VRE Manassas Line ridership is projected to increase by 160%.

Transportation Modes Under Study

  • VRE: Operational Improvements
  • Bus: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Feeder Buses
  • Metrorail: Westerly extensions, additional stations and end of the line maintenance/storage facility
  • Highway: I-66 mainline widening, interchange, and safety improvements
  • HOV: Upgrades to existing HOV lanes, extension of HOV service, new access provisions

The Study Team is currently modeling and testing transportation conditions in the Study Area to determine the impact that improvements to these transportation modes would have on the flow of travel in the I-66 corridor.

 


Steps in the Environmental Process

[click here for environmental process chart]

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