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HOT Lanes Updates:
Actions and updates: Lafayette Village Testimony to Commonwealth Transportation Board: The Association testified in front of the Commonwealth Transportation Board on January 13, 2009. The CTB is the planning arm of VDOT, and was considering revisions and cutbacks to the Six Year Improvement Program. The Association argued in support of increasing funding for HOT Lanes construction to include funds specifically targeted for improvements in noise abatement and landscaping. Our testimony can be found here. Lafayette Village Beltway Noise Study: The Association commissioned Wyle Laboratories to conduct a study of projected Beltway noise levels to assess the effectiveness of the sound barriers proposed by VDOT. This report can be found here. (Note: This is a large file and will take some time to open.) Here is the presentation delivered at the Annual Meeting on October 16, 2008. VDOT Briefing on HOT Lanes Construction at I-495/Little River Turnpike: At this meeting, VDOT distributed a construction timetable brochure that can be found here. (Note: This is a large file and will take some time to open.) Construction of the new Little River Turnpike bridges over the Beltway is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. In this phase, the proposed partial sound barrier walls will be erected, as well. Bridge construction (and the demolition of the old bridge) will take approximately three years. Once the bridge is complete, HOT Lanes construction on the Beltway adjacent to Lafayette Village will continue and be completed by 2012. (The bridge needs to be replaced before the HOT Lanes can be constructed under Little River Turnpike.) The PowerPoint presentation can be found here. VDOT Response to Lafayette Village: VDOT has provided a formal, detailed response to the issues and concerns raised by Lafayette Village residents and the Board. Its response can be read here. You will see that VDOT remains unswayed by our arguments and many letters and phone calls. Lafayette Village resident provides his own sound measurements: A resident of Newport Glen Pass conducted his own sound measurements at the ground level of his townhouse, and came up with results very different from VDOT's models. Here is his letter. VDOT Response to Public Hearings: VDOT's Design Public Hearing Comment Report has been released and can be found here. More than 50 Lafayette Village residents submitted comments during the public commenting period, over 1/6th of all individuals submitting comments! Model Noise Abatement Committee Letter: You can find a model letter to the state Noise Abatement Committee here. The Noise Abatement Committee sets policies and procedures for sound barriers, and has the power to grant exceptions to these policies when warranted. This model letter makes the argument that such an exception should be granted for Lafayette Village. You can find out more about VDOT's noise abatement policy here. Please send copies of your letter to our elected officials, whose addresses are below on this page. HMMH, the noise experts hired by VDOT to recommend the design of the sound barriers for our community, has written a letter to the community, asking for opinions on the sound barrier design. If you would like to respond to that questionnaire, you can find a model response here. Delegate Vivian Watts has submitted a written statement to VDOT in support of LVCA's position regarding continuous sound walls along the Beltway adjacent to our community. Her statement is here. The public comment period regarding the HOT Lanes design has ended. However, it is not too late to send letters to our elected officials, urging them to support out position regarding the construction of sound walls along the Beltway adjacent to Lafayette Village. We have found that our elected officials are willing and happy to work with us on this critical issue. You can base your letter on the model letter here. Send your letters to:
Breaking news: Over 60 residents met Thursday,
May 29th and passed a resolution demanding a continuous sound
barrier along our community's border with the Beltway. The
resolution can be found
here. |