Virginia scales back plans for HOT lanes

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Plans for high occupancy toll lanes on Interstates 395 and 95 are hitting roadblocks: financing and concerns about how local traffic will be impacted.

The plans are now officially on hold.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer tells WTOP there are concerns the bond market won't support funding for the HOT lanes, which are a public-private venture. He says the availability of financing for this project is "challenging."

"It's a tough climate to obtain financing," Homer says.

Plans for the HOT lanes would have had them extending down I-395/95 from the Pentagon to Massaponax in Spotsylvania County.

Homer says concerns have been growing over how the Shirlington interchange would be impacted and about how to address another hot spot - Seminary Road. The Base Realignment and Closure plan will shift thousands of jobs to Seminary Road in Alexandria. That means a lot of people will be getting into the High Occupancy Vehicle and HOT lanes there.

At Shirlington Circle -- a circular series of on and off ramps to I-395 bordered by the communities of Fairlington, Park Fairfax and Shirlington -- concerns focus on six new traffic lights that were set to be installed in the circle.

Drivers who regularly use the circle say the area is already difficult to navigate, with cars and Metrobuses coming and going in many directions.

The HOT lanes project would have funneled additional traffic onto the local roads around the Shirlington Circle.

"We felt it was a wise choice to step back and really take a more detailed look inside the (Capital) Beltway at some of these design issues, keep pushing the southern section along, and hope the credit market improves," Homer says.

In addition to improving the design of the I-395/95 HOT lanes, Homer says the state also will now identify commuter parking spots for purchase.

"The project is not moving as quickly as it had been before but it is still moving forward."

Homer says construction on the 14-mile stretch of HOT lanes on I-495 between the Dulles Toll Road to the Springfield Interchange will continue.

The HOT lanes will be free for buses, motorcycles and anyone with three or more people in his vehicle. Vehicles carrying fewer than three people would have to pay a toll which would be adjusted depending on how many people are using the lanes.

Homer will brief state lawmakers Wednesday about the plans to scale back the HOT lanes project, as well other revenue reductions the state needs to make.

"We are in a very rapid contraction mode," Homer says.

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