Governor Calls I-66 'Parking Lot,' Vows Changes

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that his administration wants to add more lanes and make other changes to Interstate 66, one of the region’s major commuter arteries.

“It is a parking lot today and we need to open it up just as we’ve done on 495 and 95,” he said during an appearance on radio station WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” program. “More lanes is the answer ... We need more lanes.”

McAuliffe said he’ll have more announcements related to I-66 soon. His administration has previously announced plans to widen the interstate and to add express lanes west of the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495). Public meetings are planned this week on the proposals.

But the governor acknowledged that adding lanes on I-66 inside the Beltway is more complicated than adding lanes west of I-495. Any proposal to widen I-66 is likely to meet opposition from Arlington County, which has sued the state over the express lanes along Interstate 395 to the south.