NVTA Applauds Historical Capital Beltway Accord

On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, during the annual Capital Region Transportation Forum in Washington, D.C., Governor Northam (D-VA) and Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD), announced a historic Capital Beltway Accord to replace the aging American Legion Bridge in order to reduce congestion and expand capacity for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike in one of the country’s worst chokepoints.
 
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) applauds the bi-partisan, bi-state partnership to tackle congestion head on in a well-known bottleneck and to improve regional connectivity.

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A statement from Monica Backmon, Executive Director, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, below.

 “The American Legion Bridge connects major employment centers and residential areas in Northern Virginia and Maryland, including Tysons, the Dulles Corridor and Bethesda.  This section of the Capital Beltway experiences pervasive traffic congestion, often in both directions simultaneously, throughout much of the day. Infrastructure improvements, such as rebuilding the American Legion Bridge, are crucial as travel conditions will worsen as population and employment in Northern Virginia will increase by 24 percent and 37 percent respectively through 2040.
 
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s TransAction, the long-range, regional multimodal transportation plan for Northern Virginia, which was adopted in October 2017, identified multiple improvement needs to transportation links crossing the Potomac River, including expansion of the American Legion Bridge with dedicated Express Lanes. An expanded American Legion Bridge provides the opportunity for a fast, frequent and reliable Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service between Northern Virginia and Maryland, providing a high quality service where none exists today. NVTA has already demonstrated its commitment to BRT by funding five different BRT projects in Northern Virginia, totaling more than $296 million.
 
In 2015, the Authority corresponded with then Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Aubrey Layne, Jr., encouraging  the initiation of discussions with Maryland to examine options to improve travel on I-495 from American Legion Bridge to the I-270 Spur.  Four years later, NVTA welcomes today’s announcement and looks forward to ongoing collaboration with Virginia and Maryland to improve travel conditions across the region and to get people home to their families faster.”

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