A potentially ground breaking traffic calming project

A potentially ground breaking traffic calming project has hit a road block with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The project would bring calming measures to a 20-mile stretch of Rural Route 50 which runs through three historic villages in northern Virginia. A grassroots group, the Route 50 Corridor Coalition, initiated the project in reaction to VDOT’s plans for widening the road and building bypasses around villages. The coalition raised money and hired traffic expert Ian Lockwood to consult on the design of a calming plan. The project has received $23 million in federal funding – despite VDOT’s refusal to participate in the early planning stages, says coalition spokesperson Susan Van Wagoner. Now that VDOT must begin to implement the plan, a conflict has arisen over who will do the detailed planning. A task force made up of citizens and elected officials who support the project have asked for equal representation and voting rights on the selection committee. This goes against VDOT’s normal procedure, and the department has refused to give representation to the project supporters. VDOT contends that task force members have a conflict of interest. Van Wagoner denies such allegations. “We have been told that the task force’s involvement would be illegal, that it is not the way things are done. But nothing about this project falls into line with the way things are usually done,” Waggoner says. The coalition is now shoring up support from state and federal legislators to break the impasse.