Arlington HOT Lanes Lawsuit Successful, But Made Enemies

Arlington County was successful in killing a state plan to build toll lanes on I-395 in Northern Virginia. But the county's hardball legal tactics may have made a few enemies in its own back yard.

Virginia is scaling back its new toll lane project in response to a lawsuit from the Arlington County Board. The board, made up entirely of Democrats, argued expanding the highway would hurt the environment.

Fellow Democrat Penny Gross is a supervisor in neighboring Fairfax County. As a result of Arlington's lawsuit, the toll lanes will now avoid her district entirely.

Gross is not pleased.

"It's very disappointing because it strangles a good portion of Virgina by the actions of one particular county," she says.

Gross says she can still work with Arlington on other issues.

"There are a lot of things we see eye to eye on," she says. "This is not one of them."

But another Fairfax County legislator, Republican Delegate Tim Hugo, isn't forgiving or forgetting. In response to the lawsuit, he's proposing a measure that would deny Arlington authority to collect certain local taxes.