Washington Airports Task Force


WATF Activities

Western Transportation Corridor

Today, Washington Dulles only faces east. Approximately one-third of all airport traffic comes from the north, west, and south. This traffic must enter the airport from the east, putting an unnecessary burden on travelers and truckers and adding traffic to already congested highways like Rt. 28.

In 1990, Task Force Board members formed a coalition with Route 15 preservation interests in order to pursue a major highway which would:

act as a western collector road for the airport;

bypass traffic to the east of historic Route 15;

accommodate the strong growth occurring in western Montgomery and Frederick Counties, Maryland, Eastern Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford Counties in Virginia. Eighty percent of the National Capital region's growth in its outer counties is projected to occur in these jurisdictions.

This coalition is known as the "Bypass Alternatives Review Committee" (BARC). With the WTC policy set, the BARC group recently reconstituted itself under new leadership in order to push for implementation of the Western Transportation Corridor.

BARC, with the technical assistance of Joseph Passonneau and Associates, developed a George Washington parkway-style concept. This concept was proposed for the Major Investment Study on the project along an alignment generally following an existing power line utility easement, gained widespread support from environmental, civic, consumer, travel, and business organizations, was promoted to the public and became the preferred alternative in that MIS study. The design concept and alignment were adopted as Virginia policy by the CTB in September, 1997. Virginia's Department of Transportation launched an environmental impact study in Spring 2001 to define the precise right of way and design concept.

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