Whatever happens on Columbia Pike, both sides agree that it needs to happen soon. In the next 30 years, county leaders say, 65 percent of Arlington’s population growth will be along Columbia Pike and Route One — the two areas where the streetcar lines have now been cancelled.
Author: Claire Zippel
The past, present, and future issues of the Arlington Streetcar
The ideal situation for Schwartz would be “a dedicated transit lane in each direction, a through-vehicle lane in each direction, and safer turn lanes.” That possibility, though, will experience many issues with the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has already refused the conversion of curb lanes to all-day transit lanes in the past
Arlington County Board cancels streetcar; Fisette cites “political realities”
The proposed streetcar would have run a 7.4 mile path between Fairfax County and Arlington, much of it along Columbia Pike in Arlington. The route was estimated to cost between $250 million and $400 million.
“The Coalition of Smarter Growth is disappointed by the Arlington Board’s decision,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the group, in a statement following the announcement, “but far more so by the deeply negative and frequently inaccurate campaign against the streetcar.”
For Fisette and Hynes, streetcar vote was painful but necessary
The Coalition for Smarter Growth, which backed the project, trained its anger not so much on Fisette and Hynes as on “the deeply negative, and frequently inaccurate, campaign” by opponents. “Failure to invest in modern, high-capacity transit will mean more traffic and less economic development,” the group said in a statement.
Arlington officials halt efforts on streetcars for Columbia Pike, Crystal City
Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth in the District, said that opposition to the streetcars went against Arlington’s history as a place that has fostered transit-based development. “Arlington represents, perhaps, the top national smart-growth story,” Schwartz said. “It went from a declining inner-ring suburb to a very economically successful community.”
Opposition was rooted in resistance to the idea of streetcars in general, Schwartz said, and public transportation projects’ reliance on local tax dollars. “Unfortunately, transit projects face many more hoops and require more local funding than highway projects,” Schwartz said.s
Report: Blame Uncle Sam for congestion on your commute
“Unnecessary traffic congestion is being caused by a lot of ways we’re subsiding commuters to drive and park. It’s not good for anyone, especially someone who has to drive to work. It’s also not making the most of a pretty robust transit network in this region,” says Cort.
How Transit, Walking, and Biking Can Save the World
- Presentation by Michael Replogle, Founder and Managing Director for Policy, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
- Presentation by Rachel Healy, Principal Sustainability Advisor, WMATA
- Presentation by Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth
Editorial: Enter Hogan
The organization supports the county’s signature big-money transportation project, the Purple Line. “If Larry Hogan is worried about Maryland losing jobs to Virginia then I can think of no better project to move forward than the Purple Line. We have faith when he says economic development is his number one focus,” said Alex Posorske, managing director of the coalition.
Was reelection of Vihstadt in Arlington a referendum on streetcar?
Coalition for Smarter Growth executive director Stewart Schwartz acknowledges that if Howze had won, advocates for the streetcar would have interpreted it as a win for the project.
“It would have a been a positive for the streetcar for sure,” Schwartz says. But he also says that supporters of the streetcar do not view Vihstadt’s victory last week as a sign that voters are rejecting the streetcar.
Letter to the Editor: Inclusionary zoning is working for renters
While the program needs to be strengthened, inclusionary zoning is showing benefits. Moderately priced housing units are being integrated into nearly every new residential development. That means desirable neighborhoods such as Chevy Chase, Dupont Circle, 14th and U, and NoMa will be affordable for more people.
Inclusionary zoning is a work in progress, but it’s already delivering on its promise to make exclusive and rapidly changing neighborhoods more accessible for working-class and middle-class residents.