Northern Virginia

Highway Threats - A Narrow Vision for Northern Virginia
Many Virginia officials advocate for Northern Virginia's future as spiderweb of pavement and concrete. Current proposals call for the widening of the Capital Beltway and I-66, as well as the construction of Outer Beltway projects such as the Tri-County Parkway and the Manassas Battlefield Bypass. Lingering in the background are plans for the Western Transportation Corridor and the Techway.

Lost in this vision of endless pavement is a sense of the wide variety of transportation needs facing Northern Virginians. Sierra Club suggests its time to look at the big picture and gain a sense of what are really some appropriate priorities: making our neighorhoods easier to negotiate on foot and bike, and improving the range of connections between our commmunities including more rail, more bus, and fixing the roads we already have.

Sign me up to help protect our communities' environment and public heath. Together we can put in place solutions that work for our families and our future.

Purple Line
The Purple Line is proposed rail project that would encircle Washington DC, connecting Northern Virginia communities and job centers and linking the existing spokes of the Metro System.

Beltway Letter [PDF]
Letter requesting additional details on the HOT Lanes widening proposal for Capital Beltway in Virginia.

Stop Beltway Widening
The Virginia Department of Transportation wants to add four lanes to the Capital Beltway (I-495). Northern Virginia residents are asking tough questions: Do we really need more asphalt, or is it time to look at the big picture?

Our Land, Our Water, Our Home
Ensuring a Healthy Future For Our George Washington National Forest

Host a Live Earth Houseparty

Land Use and the Dulles Rail Project

Related Actions:

Take Action for Better Metro Service
Make your voice heard to improve Metro service. Contact your public officials and urge them to act to get the new buses and railcars needed to relieve overcrowding. Improving Metro helps more people choose transit over driving, and is one of our best local solutions to global warming.

Tell Public Officials: Build the Purple Line Now!
Political conflicts, long review processes, and approval requirements—together with a lack of funding for Metro—continue to stall progress. Our public officials need to hear from you that building the Purple Line, including rail on the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, should be among the top transportation priorities for our region. Use this sample letter to call or write to your officials today.

Tell Gov. Kaine and Gov. O'Malley: Rail Now on the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge
The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge is rail-ready, but action is needed by Virginia and Maryland officials to jumpstart the effort to add Metro connections between the Yellow and Green Lines. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley have committed to improving transit in our region. Ask them to act to take action now to put rail on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Related News:

Environmental group urges advocacy on Metro issues
Washington Examiner 22, 2007
"Activists from the Sierra Club spent Wednesday morning at Metrorail stations throughout the region urging riders to publicly oppose fare increases and service reductions."

Metro Riders Demand Better Metro Service Without Fare Hikes
Sierra Club Press Room 21, 2007
“Metro takes 580,000 cars off the road each weekday and eliminates more than 10,000 tons of pollution each year:” noted Grace Cunningham, also with the Sierra Club. “Riders are already paying their fair share for a public service that benefits all of us.”

Wynn wants Wilson Bridge study expedited
Washington Examiner 14, 2007
"Rail across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge would provide the 100,000 plus Prince George's County residents who commute across the Wilson Bridge every day with an alternative to congested roadways," said Congressman Al Wynn in a letter to Governor Martin O'Malley. "Transit across the bridge will take people off the road and help reduce emissions in our region."

Transportation bill authorizes funding for preliminary rail studies
Gazette 8, 2005
The Campaign to Reinvest in the Heart of Oxon Hill is working on the next step to encourage construction of a rail system across the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge after funding for preliminary engineering of a transit route over the bridge was recently authorized.