Follow-up E-mail to FC DOT on Its Pending Transportation Analysis, Terry Maynard, May 15, 2012

From: Terry Maynard
To: Leonard Wolfenstein
Cc: Tom Biesiadny ; Heidi Merkel ; Patti Nicoson
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:25 PM
Subject: Reston Future Transportation Analysis Study

Leonard--

I wanted to follow-up on the FC DOT presentation made to the Reston Task Force (RTF) on April 24 first by thanking you and the briefers for the thoughtful presentation on how your are approaching the transportation analysis you are conducting for the RTF.  Please pass on my thanks to Mike Garcia and Eric Teitelman.

I would like to highlight a couple of concerns that were raised during the presentation, just as a reminder. 

• First, while labeled a "transportation" study, the focus in the presentation was purely on traffic analysis and changing roadways to accommodate growth.  There was no discussion of how to better accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists and their access to the station areas.  Indeed, some of the proposed changes would have made it more difficult for them.  I hope you can address the full range of proposed improvements, including bus transit to the station areas.
• Second, the notion of a roadway running diagonally across the Sunrise Valley Wetlands Nature Park is anathema to residents.  Despite the claim that the roadway would not do that, as diagrammed, it cuts across the northeast quadrant of the wetlands--ending at the beginning of the footbridge across the wetlands.

I would also ask for one more piece of analysis for your June 8 presentation:  An order-of-magnitude cost estimate for the various improvements from grid of streets to overpasses to bus transit, etc.  We absolutely need to understand the costs that may be associated with the transportation improvements needed to make TOD development and Metrorail work for Reston before we commit to any course of plan action, since some plans could be too costly.  I appreciate that this is relatively short notice, but I hope you can adapt some of the techniques used in the Tysons effort to take at least a first cut at the transportation costs associated with the arrival of Metrorail.

One final note:  I would like to bring to your attention the transportation needs analysis pulled together by Reston 2020's Transportation Working Group some two years ago.  It, in fact, covers all modes of transportation needed Reston-wide, but it focuses on the TOD area development issues.  I think you will find it covers most of the same topics you are currently looking at, but it has a different twist on some and makes a point of highlighting.  Here is the link to the report: Reston Transportation:Meeting the Needs of a 21st Century Planned Community.

Thank you all for your continuing excellent work.  I look forward to the hearing the results on June 12th. 

Regards,

Terry Maynard

Reston Citizens Association Representative

Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force

Posted on the RCA Reston 2020 blog