VDOT’s comment period for the I-66 Outside the Beltway Tier 2 Assessment closed on June 18, 2015.
Thank you to all who took the time to send in your comments to VDOT about the effects of this project. Keep watching for updates on this project. VDOT and their federal oversight, the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration will need to review all of the comments received and determine if the project has a “Significant Impact” to the environment, which would require a more rigorous review of the project’s effects and how they can be abated.
At the same time, the Commonwealth Transportation Board is reviewing funding options (public or public/private partnership) for the project this summer.
We will be watching and letting you know at every point in this process where the public has the right to participate.
VDOT has also started work on their separate project, I-66 Transformation Inside the Beltway. This project will convert the entire Interstate from the Courthouse neighborhood in Arlington to the Capital Beltway to HOT-3 during “peak hours.” VDOT believes that by using tolls instead of widening, they can stay within the right of way, at least through the year 2040.