The Arlington Coalition on Transportation (ACT) is a citizens group formed to oppose the construction of

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...

through Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. The focal activity of ACT was the conduct of a lawsuit filed against the

Virginia Department of Transportation The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is the agency of the state government responsible for transportation in the state of Virginia in the United States. VDOT is headquartered at the Virginia Department of Highways Building in downtow ...

in 1971 in district court. This small citizen's group, founded by Jim and Emelia Govan, actually defeated the powerful Virginia Highway Commission, as the agency was then known. After considerable further legal and technical struggles, a compromise solution was reached to create a scaled-down highway segment, including a

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

element.

Early history of the I-66 conflict

In the year 1956 the Virginia Highway Commission (later the

) proposed Interstate 66 to link Washington, D.C. to the planned

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

, a total project length of 76 miles. The citizens of Arlington were concerned about the impacts of this project through their county, especially with regard to

air quality Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

and community disruption. In 1971, ACT was the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

in an action against the Virginia Highway Commission, having filed a suit in the U.S. district court. ACT won this case after a decision by the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

, ''Arlington Coalition on Transportation v. Volpe'', 458 F.2d 1323 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1000 (1972). The court paid special attention to the plaintiff's expert calculations and testimony projecting that air quality levels would violate Federal ambient air quality standards as set forth in the Clean Air Act and violate

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

guidelines for

ambient noise Background noise or ambient noise is any sound other than the sound being monitored (primary sound). Background noise is a form of noise pollution or interference. Background noise is an important concept in setting noise levels. Background n ...

. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', which paid little attention to the conflict, suddenly became a supporter of Arlington Coalition on Transportation after their stunning victory in the Fourth Circuit. Studies of air quality and noise continued under the direction of ESL Inc., who this time were working directly for the Virginia Department of Transportation under the agreement reached between

and

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisd ...

. These studies, part of the court-mandated environmental impact statement, led to further highway design mitigation, particularly related to acoustical impacts. The conflict continued into the mid-1970s, until

Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

William T. Coleman intervened to mediate the dispute and arrived at the "Coleman Decision," which amounted to a reduced four-lane highway with a

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element.

Events to current times

The four lane version of

was completed through Arlington in the year 1982. Tinkering with variations of

High occupancy vehicle A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...

lanes occurred in the 1980s, and in 1999 Virginia Governor Gilmore announced a plan to widen both directions of I-66 within the

Beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

. Soon thereafter a new organization, ''Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation'', was formed to oppose further widening of I-66. This successor group to ACT questions the break in precedent from the intent of the "Coleman Decision", the lack of integrated transportation planning in the corridor, and further environmental impacts to Arlington.

Bibliography

* Bill Peterson, "For the Govans, the Road to Victory Is Unpaved". ''

'', August 21, 1975 * C. Michael Hogan and Harry Seidman, ''Air Quality and

Acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acousticia ...

Analysis of proposed I-66 through

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

'', ESL Inc. Technical Document T1026, Sunnyvale, Calif. (1971) * Jim and Emilia Govan, ''Oral Histories'', Arlington County Library * Mirriam A. Rollin, President of Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation, ''Comments at the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

Hearing at the Commonwealth Transportation Board of

'' October 5, 2000 * Virginia Highway Commission, ''Design Plans for Interstate 66'', (1970) * Stephen J. Lyntona, "Long Road: Bitter Fight Against I-66 Now History I-66's Final Shape A Tribute To Its Opponents' Tenacity", ''The Washington Post'', December 22, 1982 * Jack Eisen, "Citizen Groups Attack Plans for Freeway", ''The Washington Post'', September 7, 1972

External links

*
Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlington Coalition On Transportation Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia