Sonya Breehey, an area resident and Northern Virginia advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, praised the inclusion of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, green spaces and workforce and affordable housing.
Category: CSG in the News
CSG in the News: Virginia Reduces Speed Limit On Stretch Of Route 1 In Fairfax County
May 22, 2023 | DCist | Jenny Gathright
Sonya Breehey, the northern Virginia advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, says the speed limit reduction is a “win for a safer Richmond highway and the communities along the corridor.”
“The Richmond Highway corridor is just dangerous, and routinely sees higher than average crashes and fatalities,” Breehey tells DCist/WAMU. “So this is certainly a step in the right direction that will help make the roads safer for everybody no matter how you travel — but most especially for our vulnerable road users: those who are walking and biking.”
Breehey added that additional improvements are still needed.
“Dropping the speed limit along won’t be enough,” she says. “It’s one tool in the toolbox.”
Opinion: The answer to a more vibrant downtown D.C.? Not more cars.
Ultimately, this is about quality of life and attractive, competitive communities for residents of D.C. and the region, enhanced by having alternatives to hours spent driving and sitting in traffic and reducing the air pollution harming us — life and work enhanced by a green, sustainable and people-oriented downtown.
CSG in the News: Is West Virginia ready for Silver Line growth?
“It comes down to whether we can have better planning in Jefferson County,” Schwartz said. “You should grow within your small town and gracefully expand those towns with greener streets and [greater] walkability.”
CSG in the News: Loudoun County Breaks Ground On A New “Missing Link” Road
Schwartz says officials appear to be building an outer beltway link by link rather than drawing attention to it by calling it an outer beltway. “They’ve condemned Northern Virginia into a ceaseless cycle of road building. It is not enhancing the quality of life.”
CSG in the News: Billions Have Been Spent Trying to Solve NoVA’s Traffic Problem — Is it Enough?
While we’re seeing some progress, CSG’s Schwartz says federal and state funding programs still have a strong bias toward road expansion over transit spending.
New UN climate report points to compact cities, moving people not just electric cars, to cut emissions
This week, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres stated starkly “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” The agency’s Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window is an alarming read, finding that the adopted policies of all the world’s nations would lead to global warming of 2.8°C over this century – an apocalyptic outcome.
LTE: Opinion: NVTA regional transportation plan unaffordable and ineffective
Prior to midnight Monday, September 19 comment deadline, twelve non-profit organizations submitted a joint letter urging the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to reject its proposed $76 Billion TransAction 2045 long-range transportation plan.
CSG in the News: Prince George’s council pulls ‘Machiavellian’ zoning bill after uproar
September 16, 2022 | Washington Post | Daniel Wu
“The inclusion of CB-91 with those bills was “an extra Machiavellian move,” Cheryl Cort, policy director for the nonprofit Coalition for Smarter Growth, wrote to The Washington Post. Had they all passed, CB-91′s supermajority requirement would have solidified the outgoing county council’s final zoning amendments, passed under a lower burden.”
CSG in the News: Critics irked by long-term transportation proposal
“A plan that we could never afford is not a plan. And if we can’t afford it, and dozens of the projects can never be built, then the NVTA can’t claim that their plan would reduce congestion,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.