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[Archived] Alexandria Decides to Launch Court Challenge of Federal Highway Administration Approval of Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:
Tuesday, January 27, 1998
Contact:
Mayor Kerry J. Donley, (703) 838-4500; Philip G. Sunderland, City Attorney,(703) 838-4433; Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300
Alexandria Decides to Launch Court Challenge of Federal Highway Administration Approval of Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project
The City Council of Alexandria, Virginia, voted January 27 to mount a court challenge to overturn the Federal Highway Administration's decision to replace the existing six-lane Woodrow Wilson Bridge with a 12-lane, $1.7 billion facility.
The vote to challenge the decision by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) was 5-1, with Councilman David G. Speck opposed and Councilman William C. Cleveland absent but supporting the court challenge.
In a complaint to be filed later this week in federal court, the City will seek an injunction ordering the FHWA to refrain from any further actions to implement its decision until such time as the agency complies with the environmental and historic preservation requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Department of Transportation Act.
"In violation of federal environmental, transportation and historic preservation laws, the Federal Highway Administration has approved what can only be termed a massive and, at a cost of $1.7 billion, exorbitant highway project to be constructed in one of our City's most vibrant communities and one of the nation's most important historic districts," said Mayor Kerry J. Donley. "It's too big, it's too costly, it makes little sense from a transportation standpoint, and it does irrevocable harm to the City," said the Mayor.
"The Alexandria City Council supports the construction of a 10-lane replacement bridge that can be built at a realistic cost and funded entirely with federal dollars, which will make tolls unnecessary," said Mayor Donley. "The FHWA's own studies indicate that the 10-lane bridge is more than adequate to meet the future traffic projected for the Capital Beltway."
"The FHWA's decision failed to consider workable, far less costly, and far less harmful alternatives. The decision was made without fully assessing the impact of the 12-lane bridge or its expansive new interchanges on air quality and other environmental resources, without examining the damage that will be done to the City's historic districts, and without giving serious consideration to how the harmful effects of the project could be minimized or avoided entirely," said Mayor Donley.
"Alexandria will be impacted by this project far more than any other Virginia or Maryland jurisdiction. The proposed corridor for the project runs directly through the densely populated neighborhood of Old Town Alexandria, which is a National Historic Landmark known for its priceless historic resources and a lively residential and commercial community spanning over two centuries of the nation's history," said the Mayor.
The replacement project includes two side-by-side drawbridges, sprawling interchanges, HOV lanes, and separate express and local traffic lanes. FHWA intends to replace the six-lane, 90-foot-wide bridge with a 12-lane facility nearly as wide as a football field. As it runs through Old Town Alexandria, the project will be between 300 and 425 feet in width. The U.S. Route 1 interchange that will feed traffic to and from the new bridge will be expanded in Alexandria to provide for 18 separate traffic movements, twice the current number.
Construction of the project will require the demolition of four residential apartment buildings in Alexandria and the displacement of over 330 households, as well as the destruction of commercial buildings containing numerous businesses.
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