October 2, 2023 | Virginia Mercury | Nathaniel Cline
“We certainly think there’s a lot of focus on highway road expansion statewide and no focus on climate change impacts with this approach,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Alexandria was promised future Metrorail across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to connect Virginia and Maryland when the bridge was reconstructed 15 years ago. And WMATA is currently studying a Blue Line loop across the bridge. But, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is racing ahead with a biased study designed solely to extend High Occupancy Toll Lanes (aka “Express Lanes”) from Springfield across the bridge to MD210. The comment period ends on October 10!
The massacre on our roadways is the result of worsening speeding, larger vehicles like SUVs and trucks with limited visibility, increases in driver impairment and distraction, and roadway design that prioritizes cars’ speed over the lives of the Commonwealth’s residents. The tools to reverse this tragic trend are as simple as sidewalks and pedestrian refuges, but Virginia needs policy and resources to make a change.
Bill Pugh lives in Alexandria and is senior policy fellow with Coalition for Smarter Growth. “Would you go so far as to say we have a housing crisis?,” Zebra asked Pugh in a phone interview two days after the community forum.
“Alexandria has a housing shortage like many jurisdictions,” said Pugh, “and it also has an affordability issue as well. Whether we call it a crisis or not, the data that was presented by the Urban Institute has clearly shown there’s not enough housing in the DC region on all income levels. And we see that in day-to-day examples. My kids attend ACPS schools and many of their teachers drive in from Prince William and Prince George’s counties because they can’t afford to live here.”
We are writing to express strong concerns about the proposed design of the Seven Corners Ring Road and to ask that NVTC not endorse the proposed design. Your proposed letter of endorsement to NVTAuthority is on your consent agenda and is item 3d.
Closing the WMATA budget gap would cost a fraction per Metro system user compared to proposed subsidies for new Commanders stadium seats.
The draft Langston Boulevard Area Plan is out and Arlington County wants to hear from you about the proposed long-term vision for the corridor. Provide your feedback via an online survey until this Sunday, July 30th.
Sonya Breehey, Northern Virginia advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said the proposal will benefit housing and climate.
“The proposed zoning amendment offers to better balance future parking demand with other communities like equity, affordability, environmental sustainability and effective land use,” she said.
Your feedback is critical to ensure that VDOT prioritizes fostering walkable, transit-friendly communities connected by clean, convenient intercity rail and bus systems rather than continuing to pave over Virginia and making communities more car-dependent and less safe to walk and bike.
Now, “there are vast acres upon acres of paved-over surfaces that are wholly underutilized,” Breehey said. “This is an opportunity to sort of fix the wrongs of the past as we try to create a different future for the county.”