McLean Residents File Lawsuit To Halt Work On I-495 Toll Lanes Expansion

MCLEAN, VA — A group of McLean residents filed a lawsuit accusing the Virginia Department of Transportation and the company behind the Interstate 495 toll lanes of violating federal environmental laws and harming the health of families who live near the project.

In the lawsuit, the Northern Virginia Citizens Association is asking the court to put a stop to further work on the I-495 Express Lanes Northern Extension, or I-495 NEXT Project, until the developers comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The I-495 NEXT Project will extend express toll lanes along about two miles of the Capital Beltway from their current northern terminus in the vicinity of the Old Dominion Drive overpass to the George Washington Memorial Parkway in the McLean area.

As part of the project, private toll lanes operator Transurban has already stripped away about 10 acres of mature trees that previously shielded a McLean neighborhood from the Beltway in the area of the cloverleaf interchange between the George Washington Memorial Parkway and I-495, according to the lawsuit.

"The changes to the Project scope have harmed, and continue to harm, the health of NOVA’s members, as well as their recreational, aesthetic, and other interests," the NOVA Citizens Association states in the complaint. "NOVA and its members have reasonable concerns about their health and other interests because of Defendants' failure to conduct further environmental studies of material changes planned and performed after they obtained approval of the Project."

The lawsuit, which is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, was filed on March 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. VDOT, Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard Miller, the Federal Highway Administration, Transurban, and Transurban subsidiary Capital Beltway Express LLC are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The NOVA Association, formed in December 2020, has more than 150 members, including 75 members who live on Live Oak Drive, Green Oak Drive and Rivercrest Drive in McLean in the area of planned flyover ramps that would connect the I-495 NEXT project to the Maryland Project on the Virginia side of the American Legion Bridge.

The I-495 Northern Extension project is adding toll lanes from the Tysons area past the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean. The George Washington Parkway interchange has been a point of concern for the NOVA Citizens Association, due to the work needed to accommodate planned ramps and stormwater management ponds.

The residents are seeking to prevent further work on portions of the I-495 NEXT Project that were not part of the original May 2021 environmental assessment.

A year after completion of the required National Environmental Policy Act review process and a few months after the statute of limitations had run out on the approved NEPA assessment, VDOT and Transurban made sweeping changes to the I-495 NEXT project, the NOVA Citizens Association contends in the lawsuit.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires that an agency — in this case, the Federal Highway Administration — must supplement its NEPA analysis when "substantial changes" are made to a "proposed action that are relevant to environmental concerns," the NOVA Citizens Association says in the lawsuit.

VDOT said it is aware of the lawsuit filed by the NOVA Citizens Association, but emphasized in a statement emailed to Patch that it places a priority on compliance with all environmental regulations and has "proven protocols in place to ensure environmental impacts are reviewed and existing approvals affirmed throughout the lifecycle of a project."

VDOT has complied with all applicable environmental requirements and followed its environmental review processes since the start of the I-495 NEXT project, the department said.

In its environmental assessment, the project received a "finding of no significant impact" from the FHWA and National Park Service in 2021. Since that time, VDOT and its partner, Capital Beltway Express LLC, have worked to ensure that the project remains compliant with the findings of the FHWA and National Park Service, the department said.

"We remain committed to working with local communities and stakeholders, as we continue to advance those goals with the 495 NEXT Project," VDOT said.

In a statement, Transurban said the lawsuit by McLean residents threatens to delay the congestion relief, environmental enhancements, and safety improvements that the I-495 NEXT Project would bring to Northern Virginia.

"Transurban's demonstrated engagement with local communities and stakeholders over the last 15 years has been essential to delivering transformative transportation solutions for Virginia," Amanda Baxter, senior vice president of Virginia market and operations for Transurban North American, said in a statement.

"We recognize the impacts that construction has on the communities within our corridors, still we are confident that the requirements to obtain approvals have been met or exceeded," Baxter said. "Our engagement to date reflects ongoing reductions of impacts to the neighborhoods along this corridor, and we continue to focus on working together to deliver this critical project for the region."

Among the changes to the I-495 NEXT Project made by the project developers after the environmental assessment was approved, according to the lawsuit, were eliminating 16 small stormwater retention ponds; expanding the number of lanes and flyover ramps, and the height of flyover ramps, in the vicinity of Live Oak Drive in McLean; moving an existing cell tower onto a residential property and directly next to a swim club; and completely deforesting close to 10 acres of mature trees.

The NOVA Citizens Association asserts these changes will expose thousands of McLean children to additional harmful air pollution and an increased potential for exposure to mosquito-borne diseases. Almost 1,900 Virginia students attend schools within a half-mile of the locus of the project’s scope change, and about 7,500 students attend school within two miles of the project, the plaintiffs contend.

Five McLean families have already been impacted by the project, according to the lawsuit.

One NOVA Citizens Association member’s son is severely disabled and has life-threatening asthma and requires specialized care in all aspects of life. By removing the trees and eliminating the sound walls, VDOT and Transurban have caused dirt, dust, air pollution, and particulates to cover the family’s windows and cars, the lawsuit contends.

Because of the actions by VDOT and Transurban, the family needed to revamp the home’s HVAC system and install a new medical-grade filtration system, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also contends that VDOT’s own analysis shows that until Maryland completes its Beltway expansion project, including building a new American Legion Bridge, the I-495 NEXT Project will slow commute times for anyone unwilling or unable to pay the Transurban tolls.

But Transurban, the company selected to build and operate the express lanes in both Virginia and Maryland, announced on March 9 that it was abandoning the Maryland portion of the project.

This decision casts “into serious doubt the future of that project and its physical connection to the I-495 NEXT Project,” the citizens association said.

RELATED: Transurban Announces It Will Exit Proposed Toll Lane Expansion