News and notes from Reston (tm).

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

On The YouTubes: We Watch the Reston Association Videos So You Don't Have To


Andy Sigle and his dulcet tones take their lives in their hands as Sigle saunters across the on-ramp to the Toll Road in the opening moments of this, the April edition of RA Today. Gesturing at the Great Hole of Reston behind him, Sigle promises, "we'll find out who's under some of those hard hats."

Sadly, what follows is not the long-anticipated Village People reunion. Instead, we get contractors toiling away on "the largest single construction project this side of the Mississippi." At the moment, 250-300 tradesmen -- a term we love -- are on site every day, working to pour 2.8 million tons of concrete. Check out the MOVING GIANT BUCKET spewing wet concrete at about 1:50 -- it's FREAKIN' SWEET.

"We're still hauling dirt out of this big hole," one of the guys under a hard hat says -- and all told, 500,000 cubic yards of dirt have been hauled out of the Great Hole, which ought to be enough to put down in all those fancy new parks we're supposed to be getting.

Then Andy moves to the side of the W&OD, telling us about the benefits of bicycling as spandex-clad speed demons cyclists zip by. We also catch a familiar glimpse of pedestrians stranded in the median where the trail crosses Wiehle Avenue as traffic zips by. We hope that with all the bollardy goodness cropping up around it, someone shells out a few bucks to build a bridge or a tunnel for the W&OD at that intersection. Perhaps that was in the Powerpoint.

There's also some stuff about the 5K Nature Fund RunWalk on April 21, an event we wholeheartedly endorse, and then, as abruptly as the video begins, it's over, providing a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of time and existence even as the flowers blossom and spring arrives with a vengeance. Happy Wednesday!

3 comments:

  1. Peasant From Less Sought After South RestonApril 4, 2012 at 11:22 PM

    "The largest single construction project this side of the Mississippi"? Give me a freakin' break, Andy. Think maybe that One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower)in Manhattan, which costs 3.8 billion dollars and which reached its 100th floor just two days ago on the way to its total height of 1,776 feet, just might be a bigger construction project?

    Reston Station,the navel of the known universe...that is, if the known universe lies between Sunrise Valley and Sunset Hills.

    (Cue lyrics from Fiddler on the Roof. "Sunrise, sunset...")

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  2. "Sunrise, sunset ...." Clever, Peasant. It can also serve as the theme song to the demise of Reston as we know it, and that is not a good thing.

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  3. Yep, Diva, Reston is getting ready to move from sleepy little, greenery filled, artsy-fartsy throwback to Haight-Asbury in its heyday to a smog-choked and gridlocked concrete canyon. The sad part is that the idiots who think that the county planning staff and the developers are actually paying any attention to them instead of just paying lip service are so deluded by their own machinations that they won't see the truth before the steam shovels of progress have torn their Green Mecca to shreds.

    And the sad part is that, once everything is said and done, the only solace to the bastion of corporate greed of the New Reston is that we will be able to say, "I told you so."

    No Growth is Smart Growth.

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