Editing Interstate 66 (section)

==== Transform 66 ====
[[File:2016-10-28 12 08 38 View east along Interstate 66 just east of Exit 52 (U.S. Route 29 to Virginia State Route 28 South, Centreville) in Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg|thumb|I-66 eastbound past the [[U.S. Route 29 in Virginia|U.S. Route 29]] in [[Centreville, Virginia]]]]
The [[Virginia Department of Transportation]] announced its public-private partnership with the [[Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation]], and the private partner, I-66 Express Mobility Partners, with an estimating $3.7 billion dollars for transportation/road improvements along the I-66 corridor. The project, known as Transform 66, opened to traffic in November 2022 and the HOV rule changed from HOV-2+ to HOV-3+ in early December 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Transform 66 – Outside the Beltway – About the Project |url=https://outside.transform66.org/about_the_project/default.asp |website=outside.transform66.org |access-date= April 24, 2022}}</ref>

=====Timeline=====
[[File:2016-10-02 07 50 38 View north along U.S. Route 29 (west along the Whitehurst Freeway and K Street) at the eastern end of Interstate 66 (Potomac River Freeway) in Washington, D.C..jpg|thumb|The eastern terminus of I-66 at [[U.S. Route 29 in Virginia|U.S. Route 29]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
In 2015, the [[Virginia Department of Transportation]] planning board added I-66 HOT lanes to their list of priority projects for the I-66 corridor.<ref>{{cite news |last1= Thomson |first1= Robert |title= I-66 HOT lanes plan reviewed by regional panel |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/02/18/i-66-hot-lanes-plan-reviewed-by-regional-panel/ |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= February 18, 2015 |access-date= May 10, 2015 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150508220148/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/02/18/i-66-hot-lanes-plan-reviewed-by-regional-panel/ |archive-date= May 8, 2015 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> The projects have sparked opposition between residents and community businesses over the direction of this region's future infrastructure planning. The VDOT established a "Transform 66" website on regional traffic issues. Residents living within the I-66 corridor have set up "Transform 66 Wisely", a website describing local community impacts that the VDOT projects may cause. Local business groups and [[Chambers of Commerce]] located near the affected areas, however, supported the improvements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidenova.com/news/business/fairfax/commentary-business-groups-urge-action-on-i--outside-the/article_01965472-ec2e-11e4-89b2-d3a21ba6ae14.html#user-comment-area|title=Commentary: Business groups urge action on I-66 outside the Beltway|work=INSIDENOVA.COM|date=April 29, 2015 }}</ref>

Residents along the I-66 corridor, such as in Arlington County, have resisted I-66 widening proposals for many years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/officials-to-consider-road-widening-hot-lanes-through-arlington-portion-of-i-66/2014/12/12/2bf9a97e-824a-11e4-9f38-95a187e4c1f7_story.html|title=Officials to consider road widening, HOT lanes through Arlington portion of I-66|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310163533/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/officials-to-consider-road-widening-hot-lanes-through-arlington-portion-of-i-66/2014/12/12/2bf9a97e-824a-11e4-9f38-95a187e4c1f7_story.html|archive-date=March 10, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The local Stenwood Elementary School would lose its attached field, leaving it with blacktop-only recess space.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2015/04/deal-close-save-homes-66-widening/|title=Deal close to save homes from I-66 widening|date=April 29, 2015 |publisher=WTOP|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502232728/http://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2015/04/deal-close-save-homes-66-widening/|archive-date=May 2, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In an April&nbsp;16, 2015, letter to the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, members of the 1st, 8th, 10th, and 11th districts of Congress wrote that VDOT research noted that, during peak hours, 35&nbsp;percent of eastbound cars and 50&nbsp;percent of westbound cars are HOV violators.

Future federal steps for VDOT include [[National Environmental Policy Act]] (NEPA) review, obligation of federal funds, certification that the conversion to tolled facilities will not "degrade" the existing facility, and potential federal loan guarantee. The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is responsible for overseeing VDOT and allocating highway funding to specific projects. The board has 18&nbsp;members appointed by the Governor,<ref>{{cite web |title=CTB Member Roll |url=http://www.ctb.virginia.gov/resources/14058_CTB_may2014.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103405/http://www.ctb.virginia.gov/resources/14058_CTB_may2014.pdf |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> includes the Virginia Secretary of Transportation, [[Aubrey Layne]], and is the group that will be making the final decision and allocating funding for VDOT's plans for I-66.

In 2016, VDOT announced that it was planning to add express lanes and multimodal transportation improvements to I-66 outside the Beltway (the "Transform 66 Outside the Beltway" improvement project). A decision was also made to move forward with widening I-66 eastbound and make multimodal improvements from the Dulles Airport connector to Ballston, the "Transform 66 Inside the Beltway" improvement project.<ref>{{cite web |title=PLANS TO EXTEND I-395 EXPRESS LANES LAUNCHED |url=http://inside.transform66.org/documents/march2016_01_asset_upload_file263_79566.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://inside.transform66.org/documents/march2016_01_asset_upload_file263_79566.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |access-date=12 October 2018}}</ref>

VDOT also announced during 2016 that it would initiate on I-66 a dynamic tolling system in the peak travel directions during rush hours. On December&nbsp;4, 2017, VDOT converted {{convert|10|mi|km|}} of I-66 between US&nbsp;29 in Rosslyn and the Capital Beltway to an HOV variable [[congestion pricing]] tolling system. The system permits solo drivers to use I-66 during peak travel hours in the appropriate direction if they pay a toll.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lazo |first1=Luz |title=Interstate 66 tolling starts Monday. Here's what you need to know. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/interstate-66-tolling-starts-monday-heres-what-you-need-to-know/2017/12/02/800454e2-d535-11e7-a986-d0a9770d9a3e_story.html |access-date=12 October 2018 |date=2 December 2017}}</ref>

VDOT designed the price of toll to keep traffic moving at a minimum of {{convert|45|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} and to increase the capacity of the road. Carpools and vanpools (with three or more people), transit, on-duty law enforcement and first responders do not pay a toll.<ref name=inside>{{Cite web|url=http://inside.transform66.org/default.asp|title=Transform 66 in Northern Virginia|work=Inside the Beltway|language=en|access-date=February 9, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080600/http://inside.transform66.org/default.asp|archive-date=February 11, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Prices were as high as $47 one-way during the lanes' first weeks of operations, attracting controversy and national media attention. The average speed during the morning rush hour was {{convert|57|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} versus {{convert|37|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} a year before.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schaper |first=Davis |title=Are $40 Toll Roads The Future? |language=en |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/12/12/570248568/are-40-toll-roads-the-future |url-status=live |access-date=December 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213004447/https://www.npr.org/2017/12/12/570248568/are-40-toll-roads-the-future |archive-date=December 13, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Massimo |first1=Rick |last2=Nadeem |first2=Reem |date=December 4, 2017 |title=Tolls stabilize during first afternoon rush hour on I-66 inside Beltway |language=en-US |publisher=WTOP |location=Washington, DC |url=https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2017/12/interstate-66-rush-hour-tolls-begin-inside-beltway/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213143446/https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2017/12/interstate-66-rush-hour-tolls-begin-inside-beltway/ |archive-date=December 13, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Astor |first1=Maggie |title=A $40 Toll to Drive 10 Miles? It Happened on Virginia’s I-66 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/us/i66-toll-virginia-washington.html |work=The New York Times |date=5 December 2017}}</ref> In 2023, VDOT reported that the average charge to travel the length of the tolled section was $6.31 in mornings and $5.10 in evenings. 0.04% of trips cost more than $40, and it was the first time that any trips at all had crossed that amount since 2020.<ref name="vdothot">{{cite web |title=I-66 Express Lanes Inside the Beltway Performance Report for 2023 |url=https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/media/vdotvirginiagov/projects/megaprojects/66expresslanes/documents/_2023-Annual-V02d_acc07292024_PM.pdf |publisher=VDOT}}</ref>

In 2017, construction began on the "Transform 66 Outside the Beltway" improvement project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://outside.transform66.org/|title=Transform 66 in Northern Virginia – Outside the Beltway|website=outside.transform66.org|language=en|access-date=2017-02-09|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306201714/http://outside.transform66.org/|archive-date=March 6, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The project added {{convert|22.5|mi|km}} of new dynamically-tolled express lanes alongside I-66 from I-495 to University Boulevard in Gainesville. It also built new park and ride facilities, interchange improvements and {{convert|11|mi|km}} of expanded multi-use trail. The project was completed in November&nbsp;2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://outside.transform66.org/|title=Transform 66 - Outside the Beltway|website=outside.transform66.org}}</ref>

Construction on widening eastbound I-66 as part of the "Transform 66 Inside the Beltway" improvement project began in June&nbsp;2018 and  was completed in 2020. The project added a travel lane on eastbound I-66 between the Dulles Access Road and [[Virginia State Route 237|Fairfax Drive]] (exit&nbsp;71) in Ballston, and provided a new ramp-to-ramp direct access connection from eastbound I-66 to the [[West Falls Church station]] at the SR&nbsp;7 interchange and provided a new bridge for the [[Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park|W&OD Trail]] over US&nbsp;29.<ref name=inside />{{Update after|2020}}

VDOT completed in August&nbsp;2018 a [[diverging diamond interchange]] in Haymarket at the interchange of I-66 with [[U.S. Route 15 in Virginia|US&nbsp;15]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Diverging-diamond completion to be celebrated in Haymarket |url=https://www.insidenova.com/news/transportation/prince_william/diverging-diamond-completion-to-be-celebrated-in-haymarket/article_d1fbf8b2-9be7-11e8-8943-bbb156217784.html |access-date=11 October 2018 |work=InsideNova |date=August 9, 2018}}</ref><!-- <ref>{{cite news |last1=Pascale |first1=Jordan |title=First Ride: Northern Virginia Opens New "66-Parallel" Bike And Walking Trail |url=https://dcist.com/story/23/05/17/first-ride-northern-virginia-opens-new-66-parallel-bike-and-walking-trail/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517221900/https://dcist.com/story/23/05/17/first-ride-northern-virginia-opens-new-66-parallel-bike-and-walking-trail/ |url-status=live |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |access-date=18 May 2023 |work=DCist |date=17 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Time to ride: Shared-use path parallel to I-66 officially opens in Vienna |url=https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/time-to-ride-shared-use-path-parallel-to-i-66-officially-opens-in-vienna/article_befe4c00-f589-11ed-9e40-7b63cd123303.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |work=INSIDENOVA.COM |date=18 May 2023 |language=en}}</ref> -->