Lynn Hampton
Acting President and CEO
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Ms. Hampton,
I am writing as President of the Reston Citizens Association (RCA), an organization founded in 1967. Our mission is to protect and promote the founding principles of Reston, established as a pioneering new town. Foremost among the founding principles are the ideas of community and of comprehensive planning. As long as Robert E. Simon, Jr., owned the land, he was able to foster these goals. Ownership is now scattered among thousands of entities.
When the Dulles Access Road split Reston in two, the community suffered a body blow. The addition of the Toll Road further separated the north and the south halves of our community. With the advent of metrorail comes the possibility of increasing the number of bridges connecting north and south Reston. This is because current transportation infrastructure cannot support the increased population and number of jobs in future transportation-oriented development close to Reston’s three stations and along the Dulles corridor. Obvious ways to alleviate traffic congestion are to supply additional bridges and/or tunnels, particularly near the Reston stations.
Such bridges and tunnels, whether for pedestrians, bicycles or vehicles would serve not only the success of rail in Reston, but the re-connecting of our two halves. They are also very costly and are not likely to be funded in the near future. In the interests of optimal town planning, RCA urges MWAA not to build anything into the Dulles Rail Project that could preclude future bridges and tunnels.
RCA also supports the concept of future air rights in buildings over the Dulles Toll Road. Please do all you can do now to ensure that actions today do not preclude this possibility in the future.
RCA is represented on the Reston Master Plan Special Task Force, and has a land-use committee which monitors Task Force work closely. We intend to do all within our power to ensure that the Fairfax County Master Plan, when amended. fosters Reston as a community, and makes plans comprehensively to the extent possible in the free market. We ask your help in the areas which you control.
Sincerely,
Marion Stillson
President
Reston Citizens Association
Well, I don't think the corn and other similar residents of pre-Reston suffered a body blow when the Access Road went in. There was NO Reston community then.
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