The first ever Fairfax Bike Summit is open to the public at George Mason University Saturday. “This event will be a powerful opportunity to learn from each other. Our goal is to build a coalition of local residents and work toward a bike future where people of all ages and abilities are comfortable riding on the streets,” said Bruce Wright…
Category: News
Video: Apartments and Condos Fueling Construction Boom in DC
Housing developers all across the country are feeling confident, especially about
the future of building apartments and condos. And one place that’s really
booming—the nation’s capital. Sylvia Hall sits down with CSG policy director Cheryl Cort to talk about the D.C. housing market.
Board approves financing for U.S. 460 toll-road project
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the financing arrangements Wednesday to make the $1.4 billion U.S. 460 toll-road project a reality. The state anticipates finalizing the deal with US 460 Mobility Partners, the project’s design-build consortium, in December, officials told the state Transportation Board.
Board greenlights $900M-plus for stretch of U.S. 460
A state transportation board on Wednesday approved the use of more than $900 million in public bonds for a new, tolled highway out of Hampton Roads.
GMU Report Flawed; Would Lead Region Down Unsustainable Path
Using funding from developers with significant interests in land in outer suburban locations, researchers at George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis have issued a new report arguing for massive investment in highway infrastructure. Experts at the Coalition for Smarter Growth disagree.
Coalition for Smarter Growth Releases Report on D.C. Public Land Use for Affordable Housing
Today, the Coalition for Smarter Growth released a new report on public land redevelopment in Washington, D.C., entitled Public Land for Public Good: Making the Most of City Land to Meet Affordable Housing Needs.
What’s the Best Way to Build New Highways: Private? Public? Tolls? Magic?
As the opening of the Interstate 495 Express Lanes on northern Virginia’s Capital Beltway draws closer, backers of the $2 billion project say they cannot guarantee the four new HOT lanes will achieve the goal of reducing traffic congestion while simultaneously returning a profit for their private sector operator.
Groups Urge Virginia to Stop Unnecessary Highway and Save Historic Battlefield
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, CSG, 703-599-6437
Chris Miller, PEC, 703-507-5790
Jenni Brewer, NTHP, 202-588-6380
Pamela Goddard, NPCA, 202-454-3365
Morgan Butler, SELC, 434-977-4090
Groups Urge Virginia to Stop Unnecessary Highway and Save Historic Battlefield
New Highway Proposed on Site of 150th Anniversary Weekend Reenactment of First Battle of Manassas
Washington, D.C. (July 21, 2011) – On July 23 and 24, 2011, thousands of Civil War reenactors will honor the 150th Anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas. Yet the Virginia Department of Transportation is pushing forward with the Tri-County Parkway, a proposal to build a segment of the Outer Beltway on the western boundary of Manassas National Battlefield, through a historic district and directly adjacent to the scene of fierce fighting in the Second Battle of Manassas. Recently, Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton convinced the Commonwealth Transportation Board to establish a new “Corridor of Statewide Significance” through this area, fueling efforts to build the new highway.
This weekend’s reenactment will take place within sight of the proposed highway corridor and on the farm of the late Annie Snyder, known for her tenacious fights to protect Manassas Battlefield from highways, malls and other inappropriate development.
“We are deeply concerned about the significant damage this Tri-County Parkway project would have on the cultural and historic landscape of Manassas National Battlefield Park, the Manassas Battlefield Historic District and nearby historic properties. This plan would mean building directly on top of Manassas Battlefield Park, one of a few Civil War battlefield parks that includes the majority of the actual battlefield areas where troops formed, fought and died,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Why harm hallowed ground when a number of smaller scale fixes can serve the same purpose at a lower cost and still generate local jobs?”
“Manassas National Battlefield Park is an invaluable resource not only because of its history and meaning, but also because of its role in the local economy,” said Pamela Goddard of the National Parks Conservation Association.
According to the National Park Service, non-local visitors to the Park in 2009 spent $7.12 million, supporting 82 jobs and generating $2.7 million in labor income.”
“It is particularly disturbing that, on the sesquicentennial of the battles of First and Second Manassas, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the federal government would pursue construction of a major new highway along the western boundary of the Park and through the expanded Historic District, cutting across the historic approach of Stonewall Jackson’s troops to the Second Battle of Manassas,” said Chris Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council.
The four to six lane highway would be part of a larger Outer Beltway proposal running from I-95 in Stafford, Virginia and/or Prince William to Route 7 and across the Potomac River.
“Proponents tie this controversial proposal to their goals to vastly expand Dulles Airport as a freight distribution center, meaning the new highway is intended to carry tens of thousands of trucks per year through the Manassas Battlefield historic district, forever destroying the quiet enjoyment of this hallowed ground,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “We’ve long argued that this development model is at odds with the historic tourism value of the Battlefield and is a poor economic development approach compared to the far more productive future of our knowledge economy.”
According to Morgan Butler of the Southern Environmental Law Center, “the groups first offered a comprehensive set of alternatives in June 2005 that combined other regional and local transportation and land use improvements that would meet the project’s needs while also protecting the Battlefield.”
The combination of transportation and land use measures includes:
- Improving I-66 to address the vast majority of traffic which is east-west, including by extension of HOV and bus lanes;
- Funding and expanding the capacity of the Gainesville Interchange in order to allow traffic to flow more smoothly to and from I-66;
- Extending Virginia Railway Express to Gainesville and Haymarket, and improving bus transit along Route 50 in Loudoun County, I-66, and Route 28;
- Targeting local road and safety improvements to cost-effectively reduce incidents in the high accident sections;
- Protecting Prince William County’s Rural Crescent and the Loudoun Transition Zone from overdevelopment that would add more traffic to major east-west commuting routes, while shifting development to locations with enhanced access to transit;
- Recognizing that local residents north of the Battlefield will have access to alternate shopping outlets, not requiring driving south through the Battlefield toManassas. Those future locations include Loudoun’s Route 50 Corridor,Gainesville, and Haymarket; and,
- Funding and completing the upgrade of Route 28 to improve access from the I-66 corridor to the major job concentrations east of Dulles Airport.
- Upgrading local roads like Sudley Road north of the Park and Pageland Road west of the Park with shoulders and roundabouts at intersections (at 659 and Sudley; Sudley and Pageland; and 29 and Pageland)
This more comprehensive approach offers the most effective option for avoiding and minimizing harm to the Park, the Historic District, and the Pageland Road corridor.
“The Park remains a national treasure, a local amenity and a contributor to local economic vitality. Elected and agency officials at all levels of government must work together with concerned citizens to protect its remaining integrity,” said Miller.
About the Coalition for Smarter Growth
The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington D.C. region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies needed to make those communities flourish. To learn more, visit the Coalition’s website at www.smartergrowth.net.
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PBS Frontline Documentary “Poisoned Waters” Featuring Stewart Schwartz
PBS’s Pulitzer-prize winner journalist Hedrick Smith exposes in his new Frontline documentary “Poisoned Waters” the damage being done to the nation’s delicate aquatic ecosystems like Puget Sound and the Chesapeake Bay. During his investigation, he finds that one of the major sources of the problem is our land use decisions and how we have chosen to grow. Low-density residential and commerical development built in the Chesapeake Bay watershed provide acres of impervious surface that send stormwater, laden with pollutants from parking lots and highways, rushing into the bay.
Stewart Schwartz, CSG’s Executive Director, leads Hedrick Smith on a tour of Arlington County and shows how smart growth helps protect the Bay by reducing stormwater runoff through redevelopment of parking lots into compact, walkable, urban communities. Watch the clip of the tour below, or see the full video on PBS’s website. Chris Miller, the president of the Piedmont Environmental Council, our partner organization, also comments on the options for our region during the clip.
Region’s Longest Commutes Show Need for Smart Growth and Transit
Today’s Washington Post (A-1, “A Dubious Distinction: The Longest Ride in the U.S.”) reports on Census Bureau data showing that residents of parts of Prince William and Prince George’s Counties have some of the longest average commutes in the nation. Key issues highlighted in the article: