P.O. Box 2793
Kensington, MD 20891
Contact Us

Our Objective

 

We oppose the state's plan to widen the beltway and add toll lanes, because this plan will:

▪  have a destructive impact on homes, parks, and the environment

▪  increase traffic congestion on the main beltway lanes and arterial roads

▪  unfairly favor wealthy drivers over middle and lower income drivers

▪ not create a long-term, sustainable solution to traffic congestion

 

Instead of wasting money on a project that will do little to help commuters, we must invest in a better transit system and better land use planning. 

Announcements

An article in the Washington Post (March 3, 2007, p. A1) indicates that tolls for new toll lanes to be built by Fluor Virginia, Inc., and Transurban (USA Development, Inc., Corp for I-95 and I-395 could be as high as $1.60 per mile. This estimate comports with CABE's estimate that the proposed toll lanes for the Beltway would require peak tolls of $2.50 per mile. See: "Tolls on the Beltway: How High and Why?"

According to a major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine breathing polluted air containing particulate matter that comes from fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel, and coal increases the risk of women having heart attacks or strokes by 150%. These finding may put more pressure on the EPA to lower the legal limit for fine particulaters in the air. See the Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2007 p.D1
:: Impact and Effectiveness :: What's New!  :: How You Can Help
The added lanes will increase pollution and noise in our neighborhoods beyond their already excessive levels.

Dozens of homes will have to be taken. Residents who do not lose their homes will in some ways be even worse off than those who do, because they will not be compensated for the loss of property value caused by pollution and noise.

Widening the Beltway will add even more traffic to the already congested secondary roadways that cross the Beltway.  More

CABE flyer explains the positions of the candidates in the November general elections regarding Beltway expansion.

A recent article explains why proposed tolls lanes are really not "free" to the public, as is often claimed by their advocates. Read the article  

Wall Street Journal, "HOV Lanes Linked to Rise in Car Crashes (06/21/05)

Tolls on the Beltway:  How High and Why?

Myths and Facts About Express Toll Lanes

  1. Become an individual member of Citizens Against Beltway Expansion.

  2. Deliver Citizens Against Beltway Expansion flyer

  3. Volunteer!