Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
HOT lanes work ruffles feathers
On July 22, several dignitaries spent the morning pretending to dig in a trucked-in pile of dirt on top of a Tysons Corner parking garage, "breaking ground" to signal the official beginning of construction for the beltway high occupancy toll lanes.This week, construction will begin in the middle of southbound Interstate 495, where it passes under Interstate 66, and continue all over the beltway for the next four years.
If those years go anything like the months since preliminary construction on the project began, VDOT and private partners Fluor and Transurban can look forward to an interesting time. On top of illegal campaign contributions and Fairfax supervisors threatening the project with lawsuits, last week the project's clear-cutting brought them against a new adversary – the blue-gray gnatcatcher.
"What's the fair-mindedness in allowing little birds to suffer?" asks Amy Gould, a local Realtor.
"This is a great loss to us ... this is just environmentally irresponsible," said Jeanette Stewart, of environmental group Lands and Waters.
These environmental activists are referring to an area adjacent to the beltway and Little River Turnpike, next to Wakefield Park and Accotink Stream. Last week, the site was home to several dozen barn swallow nests and at least one family of the small migratory birds called gnatcatchers.
According to the Audubon Society and Lands and Waters, those nests were filled with still growing baby birds, which is why those groups were so alarmed when the HOT lanes project announced that their construction schedule called for the area to be cleared last week.
"We knew we couldn't stop the project, we just asked them to hold off for three weeks until the babies leave the nest," Gould said.
"They asked us to wait, but we're really starting to come against crunch time," said VDOT spokesman Steve Titunik, explaining why they moved ahead with the clearing.
Prior to the clearing work, environmentalists had been working with the HOT lanes project. Project representatives had even asked Audubon naturalist Elaine Franklin to do a study of the areas marked for clearing, including the cloverleaf at Little River Turnpike and the beltway.
Franklin did the study, but the project proceeded with the clearing anyway, though they avoided specific areas where Franklin found nesting birds. Bulldozing trees with live birds nesting in them is a violation of the U.S migratory bird act.
"We're trying to work around them. ... We have to keep moving," Titunik said.
According to Franklin, even if specific trees are left untouched, the clear-cutting destroys the habitat enough to make it untenable for wildlife.
"Unfortunately, the law doesn't do enough to protect these animals," Stewart said.
Franklin and Stewart are planning to make up for that gap by surveying future clearing sites, flagging bird nests and relocating land-bound animals.
According to Titunik, the HOT lanes builders are cooperating with environemntal groups by giving them at least three weeks notice of clearing projects.
"Wherever they're clearing, we'll be there surveying," Franklin said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.