Fairfax County leaders learned Tuesday that it will cost nearly $100 million to provide parking for commuters who will trade their cars for a bus ride along soon-to-be-enhanced Interstate 95.
Virginia Department of Transportation officials unveiled the price tag to the Fairfax board Tuesday, and though the state is paying the cost, county supervisors argued that too much was being spent on parking and not enough to buses.
“Two-thirds of the plan doesn’t do anything to enhance bus service,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay, D- Lee. “The conclusion right now is that that’s the best use of the money?”
VDOT plans to add buses and 6,275 parking spaces for commuters who swap cars for the bus as part of the state’s plan to keep traffic moving along the new I-95 high-occupancy toll lanes. The state expects to begin construction on the HOT lanes next year, and state officials were seeking Fairfax’s input on its plans.
The HOT lanes project, a $1 billion public-private partnership between the state and Australian company Transurban, was already delayed 18 months and scaled back earlier this year after Arlington County sued to prevent the lanes from being added within its borders.
Fairfax supervisors are now concerned that building parking lots so close to the District line would only encourage commuters to drive most of the way to work before boarding a bus. Officials said the lots should be built south of the county and that some of the parking money would be better spent on more buses.
“The further south you get them on a bus, the better,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield.
But Amy Inman of VDOT said those parking spaces will be needed just for Fairfax County residents by 2035.
Supervisors also expressed concerns that the expensive parking would siphon state funding away from other transportation projects important to Northern Virginia.
“I can’t imagine that they’re going to take a project somewhere else and delay it so that we can do something in Northern Virginia,” McKay said.
VDOT will hold three more public meetings and a 30-day public comment period before it makes final decisions on the plan for I-95 buses and parking.
