Sunday, February 1, 2009

VDOT HOT Lanes Facilitation Charade aka Public Hearing - February 11th

VDOT will conduct a HOT Lanes Facilitation Charade, aka Public Meeting, on Wednesday, February 11th at 7:30 PM at Minnie Howard School, 3801 West Braddock Road in Alexandria (Minnie Howard School is behind Bradlee Shopping Plaza and across Braddock Road from Episcopal High School). Snow date is February 18th.

Virginia's local and state elected and appointed officials have already signed on to this disaster, which will bring between 50,000 and 100,000 more vehicles into Arlington every day and which will also urbanize the remaining rural counties between Fredericksburg and Richmond. Virginia's pols were paid over $170,000 in campaign contributions to approve HOT lanes.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Been to Sydney or Melbourne? If you visit you can see the environmental devastation Transurban Corporation caused to the outlying suburbs of both metro areas with the Aussie HOT lanes.

Anonymous said...

VDOT, Transurban, and Fluor are going to make obtaining car pool permits for the I-95 HOT lanes as difficult as possible. Transurban made a total mess of Melbourne's comprehensive public transportation system by constructing congestion pricing lanes way out into rural areas.

Anonymous said...

Transurban Corporation made over $170,000 in campaign contributions. These were ILLEGAL because Transurban is a foreign corporation. So the pols had to return the $170,000 to Transurban. How's about that for a scam? Nothing whatever has been done to Transurban for making illegal campaign contributions.

Anonymous said...

Hi Yupette,

If you visit thenewspaper.com you will see a lot of information about the Virginia HOT Lanes rip-off.

Transurban spread around $177,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Gov. Tim Kaine received $19,500 and Republican VA House Speaker Bill Howell took $12,500.

Fluor Enterprises, a 10% participant in the HOT Lane steal, has given Virginia pols almost $250,000 since 2001.

Also, Transurban retained at least seven lobbyists who have also contributed to Virginia lawmakers.

Anonymous said...

Hello, Yupette,

Please note that VDOT's "MegaProjects Manager" Young Ho Chang is actually a consultant and a project facilitator.

Anonymous said...

Yupette, the carpool parameters are still "confidential." So Transurban and Fluor get to decide on what constitutes a "carpool" after the I-95 HOT lanes are constructed.

Anonymous said...

Where are the Greens? Hibernating? Spending the Winter in Key West? Or what?

Anonymous said...

Tim Kaine and his Administation will be gone in less than a year. Tim will be heading up his old law firm and will be representing developers who will be paving everything between Richmond and Fredericksburg.

Anonymous said...

Yupette, I hear that the State Fairgrounds will be moved from Richmond to Caroline County (along with the NASCAR track). So the I-95 corridor is going to be one HUGE f'ing sprawl mega suburb from Arlington to Richmond in 10 years.

Anonymous said...

See the stunt so-called Democrat Delegate Bob Brink pulled? Made it extremely difficult for affordable housing activists to put a housing authority referendum on the ballot. This guy obviously takes his orders from his fellow Washington Golf and Country Club members.

Anonymous said...

They ALL want the middle class out of Arlington and living 60 miles south of Arlington.

Anonymous said...

So, the Bubbas will all be commuting to Arlington in their 390 hp full size 4 X 4 pickup trucks, 10 miles per gallon, and living close to the NASCAR track in Caroline County. WE get the traffic, noise, pollution, etc.

Anonymous said...

Well, what do you expect?

Arlington County will create maybe 3,000 new jobs each year through redevelopment, most of these jobs will pay $20,000 to $50,000. And maybe 100 units of affordable housing will be constructed. So where are the working poor and lower middle class supposed to live? Obviously 60 miles away as is the case in Delaware. They drive their Honda Civic and pay an Aussie firm $100 a week for the "privilege" of having a relatively uncongested commute.

No one is telling us how bad the rush hour congestion will be on the local streets and roads leading to the HOT lanes at the Caroline County end of the HOT lanes and the Arlington County end of the HOT lanes, but that is what is happening at the Dover end and Wilmington end of the Delaware Route 1 HOT lanes.

Anonymous said...

Where are the Greens? Spending the Winter in Australia as guests of Transurban Corporation?

Anonymous said...

Hello Yupette,

If you have seen the devastation caused by the wildfires in the suburbanized areas around Melbourne that is where the Aussie HOT lanes extend to. These areas are totally unsuited for anything but ranching and even not much of that.

Anonymous said...

If the Virginia Piedmont gets developed those counties are going to have the same problem as the Carolina Piedmont counties have - no water and multi-year drought conditions.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many Alexandria cops will be stationed at Minnie Howard on Wednesday to intimidate anyone who has a meaningful question for VDOT?

Anonymous said...

The meeting on February 11th is all about facilitation. VDOT only wants to build more roads for more vehicles and then widen the roads for still more vehicles.

Anonymous said...

Hey Yupette,

See you there? I live in Shirlington. We have too much traffic as it is thanks to the bozos who supposedly represent our interests on the citizens advisory committees.

Anonymous said...

About 150 Arlington and Alexandria residents attended and almost all opposed VDOT's HOT Lanes proposal. A.Y.