September 21 – The proposed high speed Maglev train between Baltimore, MD and Washington D.C. would harm a national park, a national wildlife refuge, the Chesapeake Bay and numerous nearby communities.
NPCA, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the West Baltimore Project, Delegate Jared Solomon, and Delegate Robbyn Lewis hosted a conversation about why the proposed Baltimore-Washington Maglev project is wrong for the region and the numerous transit solutions currently being considered.
September 9, 2021
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
CONVEYED VIA EMAIL
Dear Members of the Board of Supervisors:
The Sierra Club Great Falls Group and Coalition for Smarter Growth are submitting these comments concerning Fairfax County’s candidate projects for the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority 6-year plan update. We appreciate Fairfax County’s increasing focus on concentrating new development in walkable, bike-able communities near transit. For these smart growth plans to succeed, the County must prioritize transit, pedestrian and bicycle improvements in its applications for transportation funds.
In Fairfax’s current 6-year Transportation Priorities Plan, more than 59% of the anticipated available funds ($1.8 billion) are for road widenings, interchanges, extensions and spot improvements. Only 27.6% ($837.2 million) is programmed for transit capital and operations, and 7.2% ($219.5 million) for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. (Source: Transportation Status Report, Feb. 2021, p. 13) Most of the bicycle and pedestrian improvements are being funded by local sources such as the Commercial and Industrial Tax and a transportation bond. While the county may be able to design and implement individual projects more quickly through using local funding sources, local funds alone are not enough to shift the county toward a cleaner and healthier transportation future within the next 10 years. Fairfax County has a long list of missing pedestrian and bike connections and should seek to fill these gaps in our active transportation network through all available funding sources.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority allocates $200 million a year in regional transportation funds, as well as more than $80 million in 30% local-share funds. Fairfax County was awarded more than $700 million in NVTA regional funds for the 2018-23 six-year plan and 2020-25 update, in addition to receiving more than $30 million annually in local-share funds. However, most of Fairfax County’s NVTA projects have been narrowly focused on expanding road capacity for private vehicles. Among Fairfax County’s eight submissions for the NVTA
2020-25 update, for example, seven were road projects, with only one transit project (Route 1 Bus Rapid Transit).
Fairfax County has many bicycle, pedestrian and transit projects that are in the current NVTA Transaction Plan, that need additional funding, and that could be implemented by the 2027 “out” year for the Six-Year Plan update. Moreover, each of these is a regional transportation solution, including Metrorail station access improvements. Fairfax County should make a priority of completing the plans and seeking construction funding to complete these projects within the next six years. These projects include:
Thank you for considering our comments.
Sincerely yours,
Susan Bonney, Chair Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director
Sierra Club Great Falls Group Coalition for Smarter Growth
Cc: Tom Biesiadny
CSG’s September newsletter was sent out on September 1. Sign up for our email list by visiting smartergrowth.net/signup.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
August 9, 2021
Contact:
Cheryl Cort, cheryl@smartergrowth.net
Jane Lyons, jane@smartergrowth.net
Sonya Breehey, sonya@smartergrowth.net
Today’s Alarming Climate Report – The DC Region Can and Should Do its Part
Today, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued what the U.N. Chief calls a “Code Red for Humanity” highlighting worse climate impacts to come unless we act without further delay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See today’s Washington Post story on the IPCC report. Lead author, scientist Claudia Tebaldi, is quoted in the article urging people to focus on what can still be done to quickly reduce our emissions footprint.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth therefore urges every local, state, regional, and federal official to make fundamental changes in our land use, transportation, housing, and energy policies to slash our emissions. The DC region has committed itself to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. With transportation now our number one source of emissions, we need to commit to reductions in this sector in particular. Electric vehicles are essential for meeting our climate targets, but studies show that they are not enough and that our cities and suburbs must also reduce the need to drive for daily needs.
The good news is that by focusing on creating walkable, bike-friendly, mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhoods, creating more housing and more affordable housing in these communities, expanding transit, and ending highway expansion, we can reduce the amount that we have to drive and slash our emissions.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, walkable, transit-accessible communities provide a wide range of benefits including lower combined housing and transportation costs, cleaner air and improved health, and access to opportunity for all levels of our workforce.
We can do this! The smart growth climate-friendly solutions are:
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PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
May 12, 2020
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz
703-599-6437 (cell)
CSG Released the Following Statement from Executive Director Stewart Schwartz
Senators Warner, Kaine, Cardin, Van Hollen Can Fix the Infrastructure Bill
“The bipartisan infrastructure bill would pour record amounts of money into transportation. But there are critical flaws which should be addressed. Fortunately, Senator Kaine and Senator Cardin are two of the Senators proposing critically needed amendments to ensure that the bill achieves our nation’s goal of fixing existing crumbling infrastructure, sets firm goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, and funds the reconnection of city neighborhoods torn apart by highways in the 1950s through 1970s.
We strongly support Senator Kaine’s “fix-it-first” amendment for highways and roads. The infrastructure bill has been sold to the public because of crumbling roads and bridges. While the bill does require aging bridges to be prioritized, and imposes strict fix-first requirements on transit, there is no similar requirement for roads. Senator Kaine’s amendment 2373 would address this and we applaud VDOT for supporting this.
We also strongly support Senator Cardin’s amendment 2465 to require states to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Transportation is the number one source of U.S. and DC regional emissions. Addressing this will take more than electric vehicles — it will also require reducing vehicle miles traveled through walkable, transit-oriented communities, transit, telecommuting and other demand reduction tools.
We also support Senator Klobuchar’s amendment 2301 to require states to reduce deaths on our roads, and Senator Warnock’s 2167 to invest more money into reconnecting and restoring city neighborhoods torn apart by highways, like those in DC, Baltimore, and Richmond.
While the package provides record amounts to intercity rail — an implicit endorsement of Virginia’s success with passenger rail, we are very concerned that the bill allocates less than 20% of the combined package to the transit upon which so much of our workforce depends. The transit share should be increased by at least $10 billion.
These are critically needed amendments if our nation and our region are going to truly fix its aging infrastructure, fight climate change, and create more sustainable communities.”
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Dear Ms. Alfonso-Ahmed,
The Coalition for Smarter Growth appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Land Use Scenario Analysis (LUSA) shared with the community over the spring as part of the Plan Lee Highway visioning process.
CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. The Lee Highway (future Langston Boulevard) corridor provides a great opportunity to plan for a future that accommodates new growth and development in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and meets the community’s current and future transportation, housing, and livability needs.
CSG offers the following comments on the LUSA:
To assuage concerns, the Preliminary Concept Plan should make clear that transition zones will be established to step down heights to nearby neighborhoods and include goals that these transition zones are expected to achieve and the potential forms that the development could take. It should further make clear that any action to move toward a possible redevelopment in these areas would be voluntary and that no forced acquisition or eminent domain will be a part of that process.
Thank you for your consideration of our comments. We appreciate the opportunity to help develop a plan that helps guide the new Langston Boulevard corridor into a vibrant, inclusive, and transit-oriented corridor.
Thank you,
Sonya Breehey
CSG’s August newsletter was sent out on August 2. Sign up for our email list by visiting smartergrowth.net/signup.
With your help, we did it! The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the West Falls Church plan to transform acres of parking lots into an inclusive, walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented community. Thanks to all of you who took action and helped make this a success!
With your help, we did it! The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the West Falls Church plan to transform acres of parking lots into an inclusive, walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented community. Thanks to all of you who took action and helped make this a success!
The CSG team worked with local advocates to help shape the plan and win the day! Your donations help keep our team in the field winning more sustainable communities like this.
Thanks to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission for supporting the vision of a walkable, transit-oriented West Falls Church. We are also grateful that they recognized concerns expressed about the safety of people walking and biking along the major roads outside the development and in the neighborhoods and are initiating a West Falls Church Active Transportation plan to identify and prioritize needed safety improvements to support the redevelopment.
Stay tuned for further updates as the West Falls Church redevelopment and Active Transportation plan move forward for opportunities to continue working with us to ensure the success of this project. Together we will build a more sustainable, equitable, and vibrant future for Fairfax County and our region.
July 20, 2021
Hon. Charles Allen
Chair, National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board
Re: TPB Vote on Capital Beltway/I-270 and the Long-Range Transportation Plan
Chair Allen and members of the TPB:
I will keep our comments short:
Therefore, we urge you to stand by your vote to remove the toll lanes from the TPB’s long range plan and honestly to take the same step for the 495Next project – in order to force objective consideration of alternatives, the climate impacts, and the development of the most sustainable and effective alternative with the least impact on parks and communities.
We are running out of time on the climate and are failing to do what needs to be done to address the E-W economic and racial divide. We need your leadership.
Thank you,
Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director