VDOT's study to add express lanes to the south side of Beltway draws skepticism

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is studying whether express toll lanes should be built on the south side of the Capital Beltway between Northern Virginia and Maryland to ease congestion, but some local politicians and citizens are skeptical of the idea.

VDOT’s study covers 11 miles of the Capital Beltway from Springfield, Va. to Oxon Hill, Md., just south of Alexandria and including the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. The corridor regularly has commuter traffic back-ups in the morning going into Virginia and in the evening going into Maryland. It also lacks any dedicated lanes for buses or carpools or a rail option.

The VDOT study is included in the National Capital Region’s Visualize 2045 Constrained Long Range Plan and VDOT’s Six-Year Improvement Program. The study is evaluating three alternatives: a no build scenario, adding one express lane in each direction, and adding two express lanes in each direction.

VDOT says something needs to relieve congestion, and if nothing is built by 2050 it would take commuters and hour and 40 minutes longer to get from Braddock Road in Virginia across the Wilson Bridge and into Maryland.

But this week Fairfax County Board of Supervisor Dan Storck, who represents the Mount Vernon district, said the toll lane plan would create a “Lexus lane” and only benefit some while creating a traffic nightmare for others.

Maryland officials have also not supported the plan, believing it will create more congestion on their side of the Wilson Bridge. The express lanes could block plans for future Metrorail expansion across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and doesn’t consider other alternatives to widening and toll lanes, they said.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration and other agencies. Public input is being gathered through virtual and in-person meetings. In early 2025, VDOT will host public information meetings to present findings of traffic and engineering evaluations.

Some citizens are not convinced either. In a June 13, 2024 article by Bill Pugh, he gives a detailed account of what he calls the “flaws” of the Southside Express Lane project. Pugh is an urban planner and senior policy fellow for the Coalition for Smarter Growth and lives in Alexandria.