As I walked home from work last night I spotted this bike affixed to the Ballston bike pit:

Forgive the cell phone quality picture.

Someone, presumably (hopefully) the owner, has covered the thing top-to-bottom in wiser not wider stickers, advertisements from the Arlington Coalition for Sensible Transportation opposing VDOT’s plan to widen I-66 inside the Beltway.

Whoever our mysterious cycling decoupager is, they’ll be glad to know that since the latest round of budget cuts, only one of the three segments due to be widened is actually funded. They may not, however, be so pleased about some of the other cuts, such as the plan to cut transit operating funds, resulting in reductions to existing services. Though VDOT has listed highway maintenance as its highest priority, apparently maintaining the state’s existing transit investments is not viewed as important. Currently, all sorts of new road construction is being funded, including that one segment of I-66, while the state is literally slashing the funds that would keep existing transit service up and running. A facepalm moment if ever there was one.

VDOT is holding a public meeting this evening at the Fairfax County Government Center to receive feedback on its budget cuts. Officials from some of Northern Virginia’s institutions will be there to lobby for equal treatment for transit operating and highway maintenance (among other things). Anyone who wants to join them should be in Fairfax by 7:00, or should e-mail both DRPT and VDOT.