Opinion: Letter to the Editor: Broken Promises on Route 7, Tolls
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Opinion: Letter to the Editor: Broken Promises on Route 7, Tolls

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Four years ago, Virginia Delegate Kathleen Murphy and Supervisor John Foust promised the Route 7 road construction project was fully funded, and shovel ready. Del. Murphy also promised she would fight and stop tolls on I-66 inside the beltway. … Just ask the commuters sitting in traffic on Rt 7 and those who pay upwards of $40 a day in tolls.

Broken promises to the detriment of citizen’s quality of life.

Our elected officials lack of focus and willingness to set priorities (like transportation that affects thousands of lives) is one of many reasons to replace Virginia legislators Del. Kathleen Murphy, Sen. Barbara Favola, and Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust (who, unfortunately has no challenger this year).

It became very apparent at the Great Falls Citizens Association meeting on June 3 that our elected officials are more interested in distributing taxpayer money to get votes rather than investing for impact. They discussed everything from contraceptives and abortions, Japanese exchange programs, legal defense funding for non-citizens and codifying Roe v Wade. Missing was any discussion of sponsoring legislation regarding Route 7 transportation issues or toll relief. It took over an hour for the audience to convince Favola and Murphy it is their job to force VDOT to implement the citizen approved design to relieve the bottlenecks at Baron Cameron and a foreseeable bottleneck at Towlston and Route 7 (due to the ill-conceived Tolls Brothers development).

There is sufficient taxpayer money for much needed and long promised transportation improvements. What we need are legislators with a backbone to prioritize spending and a willingness to acknowledge that VDOT is accountable to the State’s General Assembly (not the other way around).

Ethel Pascal

Great Falls

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