RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Joan Morris 703-383-2465

NOVA-000 June 10, 2003

GOVERNOR WARNER AND MAYOR WILLIAMS DELIVER CONGESTION RELIEF TO POTOMAC RIVER BRIDGES

RICHMOND -- Governor Mark R. Warner and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced today that incident response units will be stationed on the D.C. and Virginia approaches to the 14th Street Bridge, beginning June 16. These units will be positioned to respond quickly to remove disabled vehicles from the travel lanes of the 14th Street Bridge, and to incidents on the nearby Memorial, Roosevelt, and Key bridges, when practicable.

In addition, Mayor Williams and Governor Warner are working together with Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich on longer-term solutions to congestion problems on all the major bridges in the region. Mayor Williams and Governors Warner and Ehrlich initiated these efforts during an April regional meeting of the three chief executives. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10th) also actively encouraged a regional response capability in a recent letter to Governor Warner.

“Commuters are suffering unnecessary delays whenever there is an accident or disabled vehicle on these bridges during the rush hour,” said Governor Warner. “They are stuck in traffic while a wrecker is dispatched to the scene. The situation is bad for commuters, families, businesses, and our air quality. In addition, with the heightened security in the Washington area, it’s critical that Virginia and D.C. keep traffic moving by any available means.”

“Getting the lanes open is the number one priority,” said Mayor Williams. “With 215,000 vehicles crossing the 14th Street Bridge every day, it only takes a minor accident to wreak havoc with the rush hour. By working together we can significantly improve our response time to incidents and reduce delays to commuters.”

This summer, Virginia, Maryland, and the District will coordinate with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to prepare draft legislation for consideration by the region’s congressional delegation to resolve serious liability and jurisdictional issues that prevent more effective coordination of public safety resources on other common traffic chokepoints.

In addition, Virginia, Maryland, and the District will work to expand the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Towing Compact to include all of the major shared bridge facilities in the region. Work on this effort will begin this summer, and likely will be completed when the liability and jurisdictional issues are resolved by Congress.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will station a flatbed tow truck from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the I-395 north approach to the bridge, where the vehicle’s operator will be able to quickly spot and respond to an incident. The D.C. Department of Transportation will position a push-bumper patrol unit on the I-395 south approach to the bridge from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The joint effort will provide a much more timely response to accidents or broken-down vehicles on the 14th Street Bridge, and to similar disruptions to travel on the Memorial, Roosevelt, and Key bridges.