News and notes from Reston (tm).

Friday, October 8, 2010

Like A Bridge Over Troubled Commuters, Will The Airport Authory Be There?

the-bridge-on-the-river-kwai1.jpgThe Reston Citizens Association has written a letter to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the group that occasionally oversees Dulles and Reagan National when it's not busy planning a Particleboard Beltway through Loudoun County or hiking tolls on the Toll Road, asking the authority to keep the door open for additional bridges spanning North and South Reston.

When the Dulles Access Road split Reston in two, the community suffered a body blow. The addition of the Toll Road further separated the north and the south halves of our community. With the advent of metrorail comes the possibility of increasing the number of bridges connecting north and south Reston. This is because current transportation infrastructure cannot support the increased population and number of jobs in future transportation-oriented development close to Reston’s three stations and along the Dulles corridor. Obvious ways to alleviate traffic congestion are to supply additional bridges and/or tunnels, particularly near the Reston stations.

Such bridges and tunnels, whether for pedestrians, bicycles or vehicles would serve not only the success of rail in Reston, but the re-connecting of our two halves. They are also very costly and are not likely to be funded in the near future. In the interests of optimal town planning, RCA urges MWAA not to build anything into the Dulles Rail Project that could preclude future bridges and tunnels.
Better change "tunnels" to "underpasses," lest you provoke Dear Leader's wrath!

Actually, we're somewhat shocked that RCA even needed to write this letter, as it's a given that more bridges are needed before righteous massively dense urban redevelopment can occur along both sides of the Toll Road. Otherwise, it'll take us hours to get to the new Cheesecake Factory! But the same folks who thought that building more roads in Loudoun County at the expense of mass transit is a good idea probably need a good kick in the pants common-sense reminder every now and then.

RCA also supports the idea of future "air rights" buildings constructed over the Toll Road, which isn't a bad idea at all -- assuming those buildings aren't put right where the additional bridges need to go.

10 comments:

  1. What about Rod's idea of connecting all the Reston lakes with canals??

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  2. We don't want any bridges to our side of Reston, thank you very much. The last thing we need is more uppity Macaroni Grill patronizing, Cheesecake Factory coveting, North Restonians filthying up our beautiful Russet Brown Penal Colony.

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  3. What Reston needs are more Todd bridges.

    I mean, what was he talking 'bout, Willis?!?!?

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  4. "When the Dulles Access Road split Reston in two, the community suffered a body blow."

    Um, what? The Dulles Access Road was built in 1962. Reston was founded in 1964. The community was ALWAYS split in two -- it was created that way! The Road wasn't inflicted on Reston; Simon bought land for Reston on both sides of the Road, and Reston chose to build on both sides of the Road.

    "The addition of the Toll Road further separated the north and the south halves of our community."

    Oh nonsense, the Toll Road did nothing the Access Road didn't already do.

    But hey, why not build all the new high density buildings ON TOP OF the Toll Road / Access Road, just like the I-5 tunnel under Seattle!

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  5. I second Anon 11:11's suggestion for The Rod Koozmin Inter-Reston Waterway Connection. And think big; let's construct a canal to the C&O so we can float right down into Washington and skip the Silver Line and Fairfax Connector entirely.

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  6. Put the high-density buildings over the toll road on tracks so they can commute to and from Tysons without leaving the building...

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  7. I like the idea of having the high density build over the toll road. The brigde and tunnel people.

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  8. I guess the poster is a "liberal", seeing as they crossed out Reagan--the proper name of the airport is REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, like it or not! Show some respect for our past president!

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  9. I'm moving to The Valley

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  10. Some of us think it's a good thing if the low-born criminal rabble in south Reston can't get to north Reston. There should be fewer bridges, not more!

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