Politics & Government

Sierra Club Names North-South Corridor Among 'Worst' Projects

The environmental group opposes the road it dubs the "Outer Beltway."

The Sierra Club has released a new report that names Virginia’s proposed North-South Corridor among the 50 worst transportation projects in the United States. There’s a meeting Tuesday night in Ashburn about the proposed project, which the Sierra Club refers to as Northern Virginia’s “Outer Beltway.”

Sierra has urged the state “to move beyond oil,” because the North-South Corridor “will keep Virginia dependent on oil for our daily transportation needs,” according to a press release from the group.

Besides tonight’s meeting in Ashburn, there’s another meeting Wednesday in Manassas about the project.

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State officials have touted the project as a way to improve access to Dulles International Airport, while the Sierra Club suggests its just the beginning of a full Outer Beltway, pointing to a study of traffic movements across the Potomac.

“Transportation infrastructure we build today will be with us for decades,” said Roger Diedrich, the Transportation Chair of the Club’s Virginia Chapter in a press release. “This project fails to give us the choices we need in the 21st century to keep us from driving deeper into oil dependence and climate disruption.”

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In contrast, the club’s report points to the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension, or Silver Line, as an example of a beneficial project for the region and the environment.

“We should heavily invest our transportation dollars in this kind of forward thinking project,” said Diedrich.


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