Homer on the Custis

From a Washington Post chat with Virginia's Secretary of Transportation Pierce R. Homer

Washington, D.C.: I live in Clarendon and bike to work most of the year. What changes should I expect to see, if any, with the new funding? And if the I-66 expansion goes ahead, will it affect my commute along the Custiss Trail (which goes along the side of I-66)?

Thanks!

Sec. Pierce R. Homer: Number one, additional funding, both regionally and statewide will allow the purchase of additional Metro rail cars to accelerate 8-car trains on the Orange line. This may let you sit rather than stand.

Second, the spot widenings on I-66 will preserve the existing bike path.

He didn't (in my opinion) answer the first question - I took it as the question being "how will this new funding impact cyclists" but I could be wrong - and only half answered the second. He said the path would be preserved, but didn't say it would stay open during the construction or have no impact on the trail.

Comments

[Steve]

no, i think you got it right. neither one was answered.

[Allen Muchnick]

VDOT is holding a
"Citizen Information Meeting" on the I-66 "Spot Improvements" project,
on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, from 7:00-8:30 PM, in the Washington-Lee High School cafeteria on Quincy St in Arlington (about 1 block south of the Custis Trail). The format will be an open-house, except for a ca. 20-minute presentation followed by a Q&A
session, starting around 7:20 PM.

This is the first opportunity for the public to learn about the impacts that a proposed third westbound I-66 lane would have on the Custis Trail.

Please attend and express your support for a quality Custis Trail and a *wiser* I-66. For updates, please visit the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation blog at [http://www.acstnet.blogspot.com] .