Report a Comment

Status of Route 7. Because of County opposition, VDOT was not planning to widen Route 7 to six lanes west of Tysons. Supervisor Foust persuaded the Supervisors to reverse its 2008 vote (9-1 against widening)to 9-1 in favor. With that and support from community organizations and the Tysons landowners, VDOT put the project back on the planning list. Senator Howell and Delegate Comstock were able to get a $50 M appropriation for planning. VDOT is now in the planning process, which includes key stakeholders.

Of course, the project is not funded. But I don't see any reason why it won't be funded over time. You are not alone in opposing the project. But I think the support is too strong to turn it around. Besides the BOS, the plan has bipartisan legislative support (Howell, Favola, Comstock, Brink and Keam); support from the Tysons Partnership; and multiple community associations. I don't see anyone turning this around. I don't see where anyone can get enough political power to undo this one. What do you see that I don't?

Needs in other parts of the County. As you note, they are real. That's why local officials have been talking about a number of bond issues that combine Tysons needs with those in other parts of the county. Similarly, state and federal money will be split among various projects in the County, including Route 7. The projects will not be built at once, but over time. This issue has been thoroughly vetted.

I agree with you that stakeholders and the County will take periodic looks at development and infrastructure. If transit modal splits are higher than projected, for example, I would expect to see some adjustment on the timing of big projects and the adjustment of small ones. But it would take a sea change (realistically, a decrease in auto traffic) for projects to removed from Table 7. If all of landowners at the stations removed all parking from their plans, the County would probably make some adjustments. But recently, many of them have been pushing the other way on parking, arguing they need more to remain competitive.

By ideological, I mean those individuals and organizations that testified to the Planning Commission and BoS but refused to address the traffic studies, the transit studies, etc. Their testimony was smart growth and transit will make Tysons work. Just trust me. They had no credibility whatsoever and were rejected. Most of the stakeholders did try to address the studies and the arguments of others. The latter had significant influence on the adopted Plan.

by tmtfairfax on Jun 27, 2012 4:51 pm • link • report