Well, I never thought I'd see this:
Construction of the first major expansion of the Capital Beltway in a generation could start as soon as next year, Virginia transportation officials said yesterday after signing a deal with two private firms to build toll lanes for a speedier ride on 14 miles of the chronically clogged highway.Of course the details might change, though not the lack of government money. It's a great day for federal and state taxpayers, as well as future DC beltway drivers.The deal calls for adding two lanes in each direction of the Beltway, separated from other traffic... The high-occupancy toll -- or HOT -- lanes would be free for vehicles containing three or more people; other drivers would pay to use them. To keep the lanes from clogging, tolls would increase with the amount of traffic.
The state would not have to pay anything for the new lanes. The private companies would invest the entire $900 million cost of the project in exchange for all or part of the toll revenue....Fluor Enterprises Inc. and Transurban Group will pay to build the lanes, which could open in 2010.
Will the extra lanes require confiscation of additional land? If so, who will pay for it? How will it be acquired?
A similar move to allow a private company to build a toll lane alongside a public freeway in Southern California has increased traffic congestion and fuel waste dramatically. The deal that the state struck with the company that built the FasTrak lanes which parallel the 91 Freeway prohibits further expansion of the public freeway lanes. As a result of growth of communities served by the 91 Freeway, traffic in both the toll and free lanes is snarled even on Saturdays because no more lanes can be built. The tolls are dependent on the traffic in the free lanes, so they are commonly at the maximum.
What appeared to be a beneficial partnership between the state and a private company has worsened traffic and wasted tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline as cars idle along the freeway.