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@AWitC: The American legion bridge is the northernmost bridge of the metropolitan area. The distance to the next bridge at Harper's Ferry is about 55 miles. The cross-river traffic from the entire area, a circle of radius of roughly 20 miles, or about 1200 square miles, must cross this bridge. This area encompasses represents about 1/6 of the total metropolitan area, probably about 1 million people.

Enlarging the AL bridge instead of building a new one will eliminate alternative routes. This will force all of the traffic down route 7 and I66 over the beltway, greatly lengthening the distances from LC and points around the Dulles corridor to the new developments in Germantown and similar points in MC. By limiting development in Potomac (not the ag reserve, my mistake), MC has indeed made these trips even longer.

Not saying that the land owners in Virginia are without fault. You could assign some of it to the Dulles airport: by not building a new bridge, even more traffic will be channeled on the DTR, providing the MWAA with the tolls they need to build the silver line.

@Miriam: in short, yes.

by goldfish on May 1, 2012 1:10 pm • link • report