Background
Using its consensus approach, the Shenandoah Forum created an excellent tool for the I-81 campaign with a balanced forum in January 2005 that drew more than 300 residents. The forum included presentations from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Southern Environmental Law Center, Rail Solution, and the Shenandoah Valley Network with lots of time for questions from the audience. Written comments gathered from forum attendees were sent to the Secretary of Transportation, the Governor and members of the Commonwealth Transportation Board. Shenandoah Forum then wrote a primer, How to Host a Forum on I-81, and guided Augusta County citizens through the process for a forum in Staunton in April and another in Verona in May.
While Shenandoah Forum was careful not to take sides at the 2005 forum, the overwhelming opposition to an I-81 truckway gave the Forum's board a strong sense that the organization should start participating in I-81 issues. Chairman Rosemary Wallinger and several board members became active partners in the Shenandoah Valley Network’s I-81 campaign, briefing elected officials and encouraging state lawmakers to call our congressional delegation to block federal funding for the massive truckway.
In early 2006, organizations and governments throughout the corridor and the commonwealth recommended a scaled-down, more reasonable approach to improving the roadway. Many adopted the “Reasonable Solutions for I-81: A Six Point Plan for Improving I-81” following this basic model:
WHEREAS, there is a need to address safety issues and congestion problems on portions of I-81 throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia; and
WHEREAS, an eight to 12 lane, tolled truck lane project has been proposed and is under review by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT); and
WHEREAS, elected officials at both the state and local levels, business groups and citizens organizations throughout the I-81 corridor have called for an alternative plan that is less costly, more targeted to specific safety and congesting issues, and more effective at moving goods and people throughout the corridor;
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the undersigned hereby supports Reasonable Solutions for I-81: A Six Point Plan for the Future, as outlined below. We call on federal, state and local governments to work cooperatively toward achieving these goals:
· Complete spot improvements to I-81, such as climbing lanes and redesigned exits, which will improve safety and relieve congestion. Data should support the need and type of each improvement, many of which are identified in earlier VDOT studies.
· Use the highway's median where possible for improvements to limit the encroachment of the road on private property and to avoid further impacts on adjacent landowners, communities, farmland, battlefields and tourism.
· Significantly step up law enforcement to greatly improve safety.
· Incorporate meaningful public transit options for both urban and rural areas in road improvement plans. Coordinate with cities, local governments, major employers and universities.
· Pursue implementation of a rail component for a balanced transportation system that would increase options for freight capacity, maintain economic competitiveness and avoid air quality and congestion problems as road use grows.
· Provide funding for land acquisition to mitigate impacts of I-81 on cultural resources in the corridor, most notably battlefields.
A full list of the organizations that participated in this effort can be found on the Shenandoah Valley Network website.
In late 2006, the Commonwealth Transportation Board adopted a resolution to reduce the scope of the project, adopting most of the recommendations of citizen groups and governments throughout the corridor.
On March 30, 2007, VDOT released the Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the roadway. In response, on May 7, 2007, the Coalition for Smarter Growth submitted comments on behalf of a number of partner organizations, including the Shenandoah Valley Network and Shenandoah Forum. Those comments can be found here.
In June 2007, the Federal Highway Administration issued a Record of Decision (ROD) approving VDOT’s flawed FEIS.
In an October 10, 2007 letter to Governor Tim Kaine, the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, and VDOT, Shenandoah County expressed its dissatisfaction with recent actions regarding improvements to I-81. In the letter, the Board of Supervisors asked the Governor and VDOT not to move forward with Tier 2 planning for the roadway but to rather reopen the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement to "better incorporate a pending state rail freight diversion study and multistate upgrades proposed by Norfolk Southern under their recently announced I-81 Crescent Corridor, and to give greater consideration to other alternatives to costly and destructive widening of I-81 in Shenandoah County."
Forum Chairman Rosemary Wallinger thanked the Board for its action. "We applaud the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors for their leadership on this issue," she said. "We share their frustration with the state, which heard from thousands of residents opposed to tolls and in favor of rail at public hearings last year, yet continues to focus on costly and destructive highway widening."
-----------
More information is available on the Shenandoah Valley Network website.
|