MAY 25, 2001

United States Department of Transportation North Potomac River Crossing Study should be completed, WATF says. Commuters need answers to congestion.

Members of the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF) this morning urged the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) to complete its North Potomac Crossing Study with its objective limited to the original congressional intent. Canceling the study now will not make the region's highway congestion go away; cancellation would merely deny the region an objective assessment upon which to base decisions, the WATF noted.

"We will never find solutions to our surface transportation problems if we as a region allow ourselves to be stampeded by mischievous information and by false lines drawn on maps to generate fear in neighborhoods," Leo Schefer, President WATF, said.

"The first step toward solution is to determine the need - where do people who cross the Potomac come from and go to? Alignments are the last, not the first step," Schefer added.

The Skycomp River Crossing Report released May 8th visually shows the problem experienced by commuters with existing bridges. The Passonneau Study published 18 months ago demonstrated the potential human, economic, transportation, and environmental benefits to be gained by a well-designed, well-located new bridge, and supporting George Washington-style parkway.

A financial analysis conducted by Commonwealth Service Company, and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., last August indicates that a new north Potomac crossing could be funded off-budget by tolls. Modeling by a Montgomery County task force in March estimated that more than 100,000 people a day would use a well-positioned new bridge.

"What is needed now is an independent measure of the demand and the pros and cons of new Potomac crossings between Northern Virginia and Montgomery County. The USDOT North Potomac Study should be completed to provide the answers," Schefer said.

Cancellation at this point likely would cost almost as much as completion.