Why have I been so upset about the Tysons "aerial" option for Metro? Several main reasons, but an article in the Washington Post, entitled "Path of Diminished Potential: Highways' Place in Rail Plan Will Make Tysons' Transition Tougher," sums up my objections from a "smart growth" perspective. Here's the vision of Tysons that many "smart growth" advocates, myself included, want to see:
Unfrying the egg is exactly what the most ardent advocates for a wholesale metamorphosis in Tysons Corner have in mind. They would rip up that cloverleaf interchange, narrow Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) and Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road) and create an entirely new grid of city streets in all parts of the district. The goal would be to alleviate traffic on the main roads and put an end to the dead-end street circuits that force most traffic in Tysons to use one of the two main thoroughfares. They also envision wide sidewalks, outdoor cafes and pedestrian crossings at every block.Gone from the medians of those two roads would be the elevated concrete pillars for the tracks. Gone would be the one street-level station planned for Route 7 prohibiting a crossing for pedestrians for about 800 feet. The escalators of an underground rail line, meanwhile, would deliver passengers directly into that intimate, urban environment -- and not onto glass-enclosed aerial walkways traversing six or eight lanes of high-volume traffic.
And here's the model we were hoping that Tysons would set for the rest of the country:
"It's such an important project for so much of the country where we're trying to convert these auto-dependent places into more livable, real places," said Norman W. Garrick, a University of Connecticut professor and director of the school's Center for Transportation and Urban Planning. "To be able to change, and to become something different -- that would make it become such a compelling example."
And now, if the "aerial option" continues marching ahead, despite all logic to the contrary? Unfortunately, the likelihood is that we'll get very little, if any, of the aforementioned: no "wide sidewalks, outdoor cafes and pedestrian crossings at every block." No reduction in auto dependency. And no "compelling example" for the rest of the country.
All because...why exactly? Because "Big Dig" Bechtel has a great deal of political clout? Because Congress didn't step in and act forecefully to ensure that this 100+-year project is done right? Because the public's voice wasn't heard? Because top officials were more concerned about getting rail to Dulles at any cost rather than taking the risk that it might not happen at all? Unfortunately, it looks like the correct answer is "all of the above." And so, the $5.1 billion (and climbing) project continues, despite the fact that urban planning experts largely conclude that it will be a failure with regard to Tysons Corner, the key to the entire project in my view. Sigh...
Wolf continued to secure millions of dollars to fund the preliminary design work. Davis joined in. Wolf, Davis and Warner, (maybe Moran?), grandfather in the Dulles Rail project so it would not have to meet the more stringent criteria. This project barely passed before and would surely fail now.
The local politicians, citizens, business communities, state all approved the aerial. We have what we have. Remember that Jim Webb is a very powerful fellow in the Senate. This is a Deocratic Congress. Couldn't Webb put on some pressure? What about Moran? What actions have they taken? The point I am trying to make is don't push all the blame on Wolf and Davis. There is plenty blame to share.
What we should really be looking at is the loose contract that will leave every citizen of Fairfax opened to paying for the cost overruns. Just remember the Boston Big Dig. Bechtel is the contractor for Boston Big Dig and Dulles Rail.
That's how the Woodrow Wilson Bridge funding impasse was broken - thank you Chuck Robb & Bill Clinton.
I've heard Tom Davis brag about it himself in defense of earmarks.
The reality is that he and Frank Wolf weren't interested in expending political capital to obtain such an earmark.
Doing an end run with an earmark would be much more feasible.
"it will be many years, perhaps decades, before the success or failure of Tysons can be measured"
Connolly and the other politicians who are receiving money from the special interests that stand to gain from this land use/construction project are counting on this.