HOT lanes

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Trio of Editorials Against HOT Lane Lawsuit — Arlington County’s $1 million lawsuit against the planned I-395 HOT lanes project is getting more bad press from local newspapers. Letters to the editor in the Sun Gazette and the Washington Post have both panned the county’s decision to add a federal highway employee to the lawsuit in his professional and personal capacities. And an editorial in the Washington Examiner called the lawsuit a “peevish jeremiad to block HOT lanes on Shirley Highway.” Ouch. All three have been published in just the past 36 hours.

Metrorail Operator Caught Texting in Arlington — Unsuck DC Metro published a photo that purports to show a Metrorail employee texting while operating a Blue Line train in Arlington. The incident happened Saturday morning, a tipster told the site.

T.A. Sullivan and Son Monuments Profiled — You know that rickety old building on Washington Boulevard in Clarendon? The one across from Lyon Hall with all the blank gravestones outside? According to TBD the site is worth $538,800 but the 71-year-old, cigarette-smoking, Skoal-chewing owner says business is good and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Awarded HUD Homelessness Grant — Arlington County has been awarded a $540,000 competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will help homeless families reunite or remain united by providing them with housing vouchers. With the family placed into housing, the children will no longer need to be placed into foster care. The vouchers will also be used by youth exiting the foster care system. A total of 50 individuals and families are expected to benefit. More from Arlington County.

Virginia Hospital Center Cheaper Than Inova Fairfax — Bloomberg reporter Peter Waldman takes a look at the impact of local hospital monopolies on the cost of medical procedures. According to the article, the average cost of a conventional birth at Arlington’s Virginia Hospital Center is $5,100, compared to $6,750 at Inova Fairfax. An abdominal CT scan costs $1,150 at Virginia Hospital Center, but costs $2,300 at Inova Fairfax. One analyst said the price difference is a result of Inova’s dominance in Northern Virginia.

Business Leaders Still Peeved at HOT Lanes Suit — Arlington business leaders are still fuming at Arlington’s costly lawsuit against High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-395. This time, the Chamber of Commerce is speaking out against the recent naming of Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez as an individual defendant in the suit. Mendez will now have to hire his own attorney and face Arlington’s charge that HOT lanes benefit wealthy white people at the expense of poor minorities, Chamber chairman Philip Keating told TBD.

WaPo Editorial: Va. Should Conduct HOT Lanes Study

By ARLnow.com

In an editorial today, the Washington Post questions the basis for Arlington County’s $750,000 lawsuit against the proposed high occupancy toll lanes on I-395. But after calling the lawsuit’s racial claims “a doozy” and asserting the need for more capacity along I-395 and I-95, the Post says that Virginia and the Feds should accede to Arlington’s request for a full environmental impact study.

The request is “reasonable,” the Post editorial board writes, while adding that “once [the study] is complete, Arlington should stand down before it throws further taxpayer dollars down into the sinkhole of litigation.”

See the editorial here.

After Bankrolling Lawsuit, Taxpayers May Be Billed For HOT Lane Construction

By ARLnow.com

In an ironic twist, Arlington taxpayers, who have already paid nearly three quarters of a million dollars to fight the state and federal plan to build high occupancy toll lanes on I-395, may end up partially footing the bill for the eventual construction of the lanes.

Uriah Kiser of InsideNoVA.com reports that state transportation officials are considering a plan that would use taxpayer dollars to supplement private funding for the construction of HOT lanes. Previously, officials had said that the lanes would be wholly funded by a private company, in exchange for a long-term lease on the lanes.

The two companies in contention for building and leasing the lanes — Texas-based Fluor and Australia-based Transurban — have both had difficulty finding investors for the project. The companies have also recently donated a large sum of money to the Virginia Republican Party.

The private law firm representing Arlington County in its lawsuit against the HOT lane plan has been paid $744,000, according to the Sun Gazette.

As Governor Makes HOT Lane Push, Companies Donate to GOP

By Uriah Kiser

Virginia Republicans got a major boost last month from those vying to build toll lanes on Interstates 95 and 395.

The Texas-based engineering firm Fluor and Australian toll road developer Transurban collectively donated $20,000 to Virginia’s GOP in May, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Neither company donated to Democrats in the most recent reporting period, according to VPAP records.

The money comes as Governor Robert McDonnell and state transportation officials are pushing to resurrect a plan to replace HOV lanes with High Occupancy Toll lanes on both highways. The lanes on I-95 would then be extended from Dumfries to Spotsylvania County to make a 56-mile toll road, which would compliment HOT lanes now being built on the Capital Beltway, between Springfield and Dulles Toll Road, by the same two companies.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.

Fluor was also a major contributor to Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s 2009 campaign. The company’s $25,000 in donations made Fluor one of McDonnell’s largest contributors, according to VPAP records.

VPAP also shows Fluor donated $15,000 to McDonnell’s inaugural committee in January, making for a total of $307, 235 in donations to Virginia Republicans since the introduction of the I-95/395 HOT lanes project in 2002. During the same period, Fluor donated $146,200 to state Democrats.

The I-95/395 HOT lanes project stalled last August when the companies said they didn’t have enough private investors to back the project and after Arlington County filed a lawsuit against the state and federal government over the project. It claimed the necessary environmental impact studies that needed to be completed before the lanes could be built were never done. Officials also said the lanes would have an adverse affect on Arlington residents who live along the I-395 corridor.

The suit could now end up in federal court.

If the I-95/395 HOT lanes are finally approved, it’s not clear how much drivers would have to pay to use the lanes or how long the two companies would lease the lanes from the state.

When the Beltway HOT lanes open in late 2012, Fluor-Transubran will lease the lanes for 75 years.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

It’s Pride Week In Arlington — June 7-13 is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Week in Arlington. County Board Chairman Jay Fisette, Virginia’s first openly gay elected official, signed the proclamation on Wednesday. Arlington’s pride week is timed to coincide with the larger Capital Pride Week. An Arlington “Pride Social” will be held at Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant (555 South 23rd Street) from 6:00 to 9:00 Friday night.

AGLA Board: “Decline to Sign” — The Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance is urging supporters to “decline to sign” the hotly-debated change-of-government petition. The AGLA and other petition critics say a change in the county’s form of government would, as a result of the Dillon Rule, eliminate Arlington’s ability to stop discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Chick-Fil-A Debuts Spicy Chicken Sandwich — Today the Chick-fil-A at Ballston Common Mall is debuting the chain’s new spicy chicken sandwich. A store rep says more than 900 mall-goers attended “VIP Premiere Tastings” for the new sandwich last week.  On a related note, there’s still word on when the new Crystal City Chick-fil-A will be opening.

Carpoolers Peeved by HOT Lanes — Some Prince William County carpoolers are objecting to the idea of motorists being able to pay for access to the high-occupancy lanes along I-395, saying it would slow down their commute, according to Uriah Kiser of InsideNoVA. Arlington County has filed suit against the I-395 HOT lanes plan, which would convert the existing two HOV lanes into three High Occupancy Toll lanes.

Flickr pool photo by Todor Kamenov.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

It’s National Donut Day — Head out to your local Dunkin’ Donuts today to get a free donut — with a drink purchase — in celebration of National Donut Day. Or, if you care to venture outside of Arlington, Krispy Kreme is giving out free donuts with no purchase necessary. Don’t know where your local donut store is? TBD’s Mandy Jenkins created this handy Google map just for you.

Arlington Restaurateur Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement — Roberto Donna, who owned the now-defunct Bebo Trattoria restaurant in Crystal City, pled guilty yesterday to felony embezzlement, Washington City Paper’s Tim Carman reports. Donna must repay Arlington County the more than $150,000 he owes in unpaid meal taxes. Donna isn’t the only one who owes the county big bucks. According to the City Paper, Arlington Catering Company, owners of the recently-shuttered Restaurant Vero, owes $78,297 in delinquent meal taxes.

Lyon Hall’s Outdoor Patio Open for Business — You can now have a prime outdoor seat to go with your Silly Saison and Hungarian lamb sausage mussels. Lyon Hall has rolled out the folding white umbrellas and steel tables and is now helping to bring some street life to Washington Boulevard. Perfect DC Bites has more.

Zimmerman Fires Back At HOT Lanes Letter — “Nonsense” is how County Board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman described some of the arguments made by local business leaders — including Arlington Chamber of Commerce President Richard Doud — in a letter asking the county to drop its lawsuit against High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-395. More from the Sun Gazette.

Biz Leaders Ask Arlington to Drop HOT Lanes Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Area business leaders are urging Arlington to drop its lawsuit against High Occupancy Toll lanes on Interstate 395 and 95.

Twenty professionals, including Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Richard V. Doud, Jr., signed a memo urging county board chairman Jay Fisette to embrace the toll lanes project.

“The primary obstacle to advancing this innovative, multi-modal improvement is the Arlington County Board’s lawsuit that precludes the project from securing any private or public sector funding,” the letter stated.

Alexandria and Prince William County business leaders also signed the letter, despite opposition to the project from elected leaders in those jurisdictions.

When Arlington filed the suit in August 2009, officials said the lanes would create more traffic, would lead to more pollution and would have an adverse affect on Arlington residents who live along I-395. They said Virginia transportation officials were allowed move forward with the project without conducting the necessary environmental studies.

Arlington officials also said the lanes would benefit mostly affluent, white residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Wednesday’s letter called those allegations absurd.

“Charges that the Obama administration and Governor Tim Kaine’s Secretary of Transportation acted with the ‘implicit intent’ to harm minority and vulnerable populations and benefit predominantly Caucasian Virginians are not credible and frankly an embarrassment to this region,” the letter stated.

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McDonnell Pushes For HOT Lanes Despite Arlington Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Virginia’s governor wants to revive the effort to put toll lanes on Interstate 395.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said his administration has been working to breathe life into the plan to add High Occupancy Toll lanes to the highway after it was delayed last year, following a lawsuit from Arlington County officials, according to the Washington Examiner.

The suit, which last week won a federal judge’s approval to move forward, claims that during the waning days of the Bush administration state transportation officials were improperly granted a “categorical exclusion” allowing the toll lanes to be built without conducting required environmental impact studies.

County officials say the lanes will benefit mostly white residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties to the detriment of Arlington residents — including a high concentration of minorities — who live along the I-395 corridor.

In addition to resulting in more pollution from auto emissions, the county argues the lanes could bring more traffic to Arlington’s neighborhood streets.

Last year, then County Board Chair Barbara Favola warned traffic would inevitably back-up where the HOT lanes would end, at Eads Street, forcing drivers to exit early.

State transportation officials have long countered that argument, saying the project would bring with it the reconstruction of local intersections and would ease traffic.

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