Photo by .Uvitra. on Flickr.

Whenever a local government makes a decision, some people are inevitably disappointed or even upset. When the disappointed people are drivers, Post reporter Eric Weiss is there to defend them with an article about how drivers and non-drivers are at “war” or “inflamed.”

We have the one where pedestrian improvements in DC are a “war on drivers.” Then there’s the one where closing Potomac bridges for the Inauguration (to private cars, not pedestrians, bikes, or buses) told Virginians to “drop dead.”

Now, Weiss wrote in Friday’s Post, COG’s vote to block I-66 widening “inflamed tensions between transit-friendly inner jurisdictions and auto-dependent outer counties.” The headline writers got into the act too, titling the story, “Vote to Forgo I-66 Expansion Imperils Federal Funds, Increases Ire.”

These incendiary ledes make for entertaining stories, but armies aren’t going to be facing off on either side of the Beltway anytime soon. People in all parts of the region want something better than the endlessly sprawling public policy of the past. According to the article, Fairfax County’s representatives, Supervisors Catherine Hudgins and Lynda Smyth, voted for Zimmerman’s amendment to block the widening.

They made the right vote. By adding capacity in spots but not throughout, these lanes will only move the bottlenecks from one place to another. If they do smooth anyone’s commute, new drivers will quickly fill the space, further worsening our region’s air quality and sprawl. And with Silver Line construction starting soon, we’re already improving mobility from Arlington to Tysons in a much better way.

More importantly, VDOT has relentlessly been working to ram this project through without public discussion or considering alternatives. They told commenter Geof Gee that they didn’t even know the effect on traffic speed or safety. They promised to consider alternatives, like transit and Transportation Demand Management, but ignored that promise in their zeal to just lay pavement. Getting blocked on this project sends a message that our region no longer wants “build more lanes” to be the knee-jerk response to every transportation problem.

Unfortunately, according to Weiss, Fairfax leaders, led by new County Chair Sharon Bulova, pressured Hudgins and Smyth to change their votes on the project. They should hold firm.

The Commonwealth of Virginia promised Arlington they would limit I-66 to four lanes when they built it. Before breaking that promise, they should at least give more than lip service to other possibilities, especially since this spot widening just won’t work. Fairfax leaders and COG members throughout the region should uphold the recent vote and open their minds to better options than making Virginia look like LA.