Bill Text: VA HJR57 | 2020 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Route 50; Department of Transportation to study traffic congestion.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - Left in Rules [HJR57 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR57-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, U.S. Route 50 in Northern Virginia covers a large portion of the Commonwealth, running from the West Virginia border into Rosslyn and joining with Interstate 66 for a short period on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge; and
WHEREAS, there has been incredible growth in Loudoun County, particularly in the western side of the county, and a large portion of this population commutes east toward Fairfax County and Washington, D.C., daily; and
WHEREAS, in response to the slow commutes of this corridor, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors recently approved $1.05 million for a new intelligent transportation system, complete with displays, sensors, and cameras, on Route 50 stretching from Stone Ridge to the Fairfax County line; and
WHEREAS, despite this effort by the locality, Dulles District Supervisor Matt Letourneau recognized in a statement that "the problems are greater than that"; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Department of Transportation be requested to study traffic congestion on that portion of U.S. Route 50 between the intersections of Interstate 66 in Fairfax County and U.S. Route 15 in Loudoun County and the feasibility of implementing improvements to such corridor.
In conducting its study, the Department of Transportation (the Department) shall consider (i) the current and future traffic congestion volumes and needs for the community along this corridor; (ii) alternative routes on which traffic could be diverted from this corridor; (iii) the use of overpasses instead of traffic lights at select intersections; (iv) the use of new technologies and strategies to improve or divert traffic; (v) the infrastructure needs of the community along this corridor; and (vi) business development solutions that could decrease traffic, such as business locations closer to potential employees and promoting the use of telework. The Department shall also seek input from local jurisdictions and work collaboratively with such jurisdictions to study and improve traffic congestion along this corridor and evaluate methods that such jurisdictions can implement on a local level to improve traffic congestion.
All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department for this study, upon request.
The Department shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2020, and for the second year by November 30, 2021, and the Department shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document for each year. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
