Letter: Traffic study and recommendations still need work, Rob Whitfield, Fairfax Times, May 11, 2010

Fairfax County has again delayed the public hearing on the proposed Comstock Reston Station Holdings LLC project at Wiehle Avenue Metro station.

The county has so far failed to design or identify funding for local transportation improvements which will be needed adjacent to planned Dulles Rail project stations to accommodate Transit Oriented Developments. Upgrades will be needed to various intersections in Reston. Worrying about design defects and limiting vehicular access to the plaza at the proposed Comstock Wiehle development during peak periods is akin to trying to deal with fleas when a herd of elephants is crashing around the house.

The Planning Commission, in overruling county staff who recommended rejection of the Comstock Wiehle proposal, has done nothing to address the fundamental problem involved -- increased traffic. At full build-out of the proposed 1.3 million square foot mixed use Comstock project, some 1,200 to 1,800 peak hour vehicle trips will be added to the local road network.

Certain transportation improvements in the Wiehle Avenue vicinity were required by the Dulles Rail Federal Transit Administration's Record of Decision of March 2005 and are being paid for from Phase 1 Dulles Rail funds. The county is spending $4 million on building sidewalks in the local area. However, it appears that little is being proffered by Comstock for local road improvements in its project proposal.

At Comstock Wiehle, 2,300 spaces for Metro riders would be built in an underground garage plus an additional 3,000-plus spaces for the proposed 1.3 million square foot mixed use Comstock development. (The county staff report omits the total number of parking spaces). The total number of parking spaces at Comstock Wiehle will be similar to the total parking provided at Vienna and Springfield Metro stations for which exclusive access ramps to and from I-66 and I-95 are provided to limit traffic impacts on the street system.

Currently, a total of 5,840 parking spaces exist at Vienna Metro. Tax records indicate that Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority owns approximately 30 acres there. By contrast, the county owned site at Wiehle Avenue contains only 9 acres which, together with 3.5 acres owned by the applicant nearby, total 12.5 acres for development. However, no direct ingress or egress to the Dulles Toll Road will be provided.

Citing budget constraints, the Reston Master Plan update "Task Force" leadership and county staff have stated that they do not intend to study traffic problems in Reston or the far worse conditions that will be created by additional traffic generated by developments around proposed Metro stations and the Town Center area.

It is complete lunacy to not evaluate comprehensively the potential parking and road improvements required to accommodate new traffic demand to be generated by future developments of Comstock, JBG, Boston Properties, Vornado Realty Trust and other landowners whose property abuts the Dulles Toll Road at or near Wiehle Avenue. The same is true for other stations proposed on the Dulles Corridor in Herndon and Reston.

Already severe peak period traffic congestion (Level F) exists in eastern Reston at intersections between Sunrise Valley Drive and Wiehle Avenue, Sunrise Valley Drive and Hunter Mill Road, Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road and Hunter Mill Road. Little has been proposed in the Comstock plan to ameliorate traffic congestion and the county's proposed penalties for not complying with a trip reduction plan are totally inadequate.

As a pre-condition of approving Comstock Wiehle Avenue development and any other Reston transit station project, we should require Fairfax County to create a "Road Club" (preferably to be called a "Public Improvements Club"), as has occurred in similar situations in Tysons Corner and elsewhere in Northern Virginia.

Now is the time for residents and businesses in Reston to insist that the county evaluate and plan for potential traffic congestion resulting from rail and the Master Plan update for station areas and around Town Center on a comprehensive basis. Bob Simon planned Reston as a place where people could live, work and play, and not as a focal point for thousands of commuter vehicles.

Rob Whitfield, Dulles Corridor Users Group