Disney Says New Roads Won’t Delay Theme Park in Virginia

The Walt Disney Co. said it will open its theme park in Virginia on schedule even if extra freeway lanes and a new interchange needed to serve it are years from completion, although government officials warned that could lead to gridlock for thousands of drivers.

Putting 5 million to 6 million annual park guests on western Prince William County’s existing narrow roads and four-lane I-66 would create “an enormous problem,” said Kathleen K. Seefeldt, chairman of the Board of County Supervisors and one of the project’s biggest supporters. But Seefeldt said she was sure the roads would be built in a timely fashion.

Disney’s declaration comes at a strategic time in negotiations between the company and county officials, who will decide in the next two months whether to approve zoning changes that Disney needs for its park, scheduled to open in 1998 near Haymarket.

Thomas Lewis, a senior vice president for Disney Development Co., said the company has no desire to open the park if road improvements are not finished. But, he said, if park opponents manage to delay the roads by filing lawsuits and demanding environmental studies, the company would have no choice.

“I think it’s obvious that the only thing that’s going to keep these long-needed, long-planned and funded road improvements from happening . . . are . . . these various groups who don’t really care about traffic,” Lewis said. One hurdle that could hold up widening I-66 and adding a new interchange is a federal environmental review, which is just beginning and expected to take about 18 months. The study could conclude that the park would create more air pollution, add to traffic congestion, damage historic sites or destroy wetlands, requiring further review. Opponents also have threatened to challenge the study with lawsuits.

Christopher Miller, spokesman for the Piedmont Environmental Council, a leading opponent of the park, accused Disney of attempting to hold local drivers hostage to force approval of the project.

“They’re willing to force the citizens to sit in traffic for years to protect their own interest,” Miller said. “Disney is unwilling to allow the process to work itself out to benefit the public . . . and they are willing to put pressure on public officials.”