At the March Sully District Council meeting State Senators Warren Barry (R-37th) and Charles Waddell (D-33rd) and Delegate Roger McClure (R-67th) gave a report on the results of the recent state legislature session.

• Transportation accomplishments included:
  • $1 million study on rail and bus transportation study on I-66 from I-495 to US Route 17
  • Continued funding for I-66 widening from Route 50 to Route 234 (a third unrestricted lane and a fourth high-occupancy-vehicle lane)
  • Passage of act allowing two-passenger vehicles on I-66 inside beltway
  • Bond sale of $45 million to allow construction of fourth lane on Toll Road for high occupancy vehicle use.

• Delegate McClure stressed that the I-66 rail and bus study is very important for this area. Although we don't have adequate transportation here, we can't build anything until we know how big we want to built it and who will travel on it. He also said that he encouraged the Virginia Department of Transportation to review its study on sound-wall policy after several neighborhoods had a difficult time trying to raise money to erect the barriers.

• Senator Waddell helped push for better regional and centralized transportation planning to help meet Northern Virginian needs. He also indicated we had a two-year window of opportunity to build the Western Bypass. The bypass is a long-planned but frequently stymied road. It would stretch north from Fredericksburg passing through eastern Loudoun county west of Dulles Airport, and cross the Potomac River in Maryland to tie into the interstates near Frederick. Although the previous Governor of Maryland opposed the road, present Governor Parris Glendenning may be more supportive of a two-state bypass of the currently overcrowded Capital Beltway.

• They indicted that the Governor made it clear that he would not support additional taxes to pay for needed transportation improvements.

• Fairfax will receive $337 million for education next year, which is $29.8 million more than this year. The average statewide cost per student is $4,000 while in Fairfax it is $6,000. Senator Barry indicated that the more money we spend in Fairfax, the more of a disparity we create compared to poorer school districts.

• All three legislators -- Barry, Waddell, and McClure -- agreed that this session of the General Assembly was the most contentious they had ever seen. Waddell indicated that the session was productive despite all the rhetoric and tensions. But he went on to say that it was the most partisan he had ever seen in all the 24 years he had been there.