Background and History

In 1987, Northern Virginia was at a crossroads.

Anti-transportation forces were poised to stop major transportation projects in the name of "controlling growth."

A small group of businessmen and private citizens met in early 1987 to discuss and reach consensus on what could be done to ensure that urgently needed transportation priorities were advanced and the region's economic prosperity and quality of life were protected.

The result was the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance. Its founding members included the Apartment and Office Building Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, the Northern Virginia Board of Realtors and the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association.

Through a major effort that included in-depth research on the failure of past transportation policies and an extensive program of newsletters, a speakers bureau, television and radio ads focused on a progressive transportation agenda, the Alliance shifted public policy from what could be done to stop previously-planned projects to what improvements must be fast-tracked to support the region's economy and quality of life in the 1990s.

What followed was an aggressive effort that put in place the major transportation projects—Fairfax County Parkway, Prince William County Parkway, Route 28 and I-66 widenings, the Dulles Greenway and Virginia Railway Express—that supported the region's unprecedented economic prosperity and quality of life advancements in the 1990s.

More recently, the Alliance has been instrumental in advancing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge replacement, Maryland's Intercounty Connector, Dulles Rail, the I-95 Fourth lane between the Fairfax County Parkway and Route 123, and promoting increased discussion of widening I-66 inside the Beltway, a new Potomac River Bridge and a Western Transportation Corridor.

For more information on the Alliance's record of accomplishment, click on "The Alliance Difference" in the box to the left.