Does Fairfax Country really need a rail connection to Dulles?

Or is this really about the contractors who will potentially
make a couple hundreds of millions of dollars?

Yes of course it does. Dont ask dumb questions.

The expansion of the rail to Dulles also includes and alternate tunnel under the Potomac. Right now, the orange and the blue lines share one tunnel and since Metro require at a least a 3 minute gap between trains through the tunnel, this extension will eliminate a current bottleneck in the system.

this extension will eliminate a current bottleneck in the system.

I metro from WFC to Rosslyn every day during rush hour(s), and there is rarely a trip that doesn't involve a delay getting into Rosslyn. The train will stop and wait a few hundred yards from the station. I didn't know they had plans to add another tunnel thru there- it is definitely something that is needed!

As far as the original post about the Dulles extension, it's a no-brainer. I always try to fly out of National, only because of its convenient subway access. It will be great to have a Dulles connection.

QuestionMark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does Fairfax Country really need a rail connection
> to Dulles?
>
> Or is this really about the contractors who will
> potentially
> make a couple hundreds of millions of dollars?


So do you acutally live in this area? Do you commute to work in this are?

Yes the contractors are gonna make a crapload of money but hopefully it will reduce traffic backups and make tysons like chicago. And the whole area will be like L.A. (Then we'd jsut need some cops to go and beat local citizens)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2007 12:11AM by KeepOnTruckin.

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> QuestionMark Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
>
> Yes the contractors are gonna make a crapload of
> money but hopefully it will reduce traffic backups
> and make tysons like chicago. And the whole area
> will be like L.A. (Then we'd jsut need some cops
> to go and beat local citizens)


And the whole area will NOT be like LA. Nobody walks in LA. Nobody takes public transportation in LA. There are more cars than people there. Their "subway" is nearly non-existent. Public transportation consists of buses that stop on every corner and are only used by hourly and piecemeal workers.

A few years ago, one of the news shows reported on the aftermath of an LA area earthquake. It took out part of the I-10 - a normally always clogged artery.

The news started talking about the Mayor and Governor asking people to "car pool". Doing a "man on the street" report (or should I say "hot babe" on the street), the reporter asked a citizen (hot babe) what she thought of the car pooling idea. She replied, "I do not think it will work. The back seat of MY car has never been used".

oh, I didnt mean like LA about the traffic. LA is a huge metropolitan area, the suburbs strech out for miles to the east. (Next time you fly into LAX, look out the windo for about 15 mins before you land) I was saying how DC's suburbs are going to strech out to Leesbug and beyond, and all the way to Baltimore, with 10 houses per acre.

This area desperately needs public transportation. A railway extending anywhere into Virginia is welcome!

However, the current rail project is set to turn the Tysons area into a new Chicago downtown- if Chicago is desolate, loud, and claustrophobic.

I don't pretend to be an expert in urban planning, but I have been to four cities which utilize above ground rail lines. And in my opinion, it's been a disaster in every case.

The closest to home? NYC. Go to Chinatown in Manhattan, or anywhere in Brooklyn. It's depressing, and claustrophobic. In Brooklyn, you'll find gutted apartment buildings lining the rail lines. You can see through these buildings on your way into- and out of- New York via JFK airport. WELCOME TO NYC!

And that's an old system! Bangkok built their Sky Train in 1992 (as best as I can tell) with new technology. Is it fast, clean, and efficient? Yes! Does it completely enclose the area it travels over, making it unpleasant to be under any time of day? Yes! Is that what we want for Tysons? No!

Elevated rail is a horrible idea to revitalize an urban area. The concrete pylons and railway block out the sky. The create an echo chamber that can reach deafening levels without any train nearby (stand in any tunnel carrying car traffic- exactly the same effect is created by an elevated railway over a street). And you'll find that people will not want to congregate anywhere near them..

But this is just my opinion after visiting a number of these cities that have tried to implement raised rail systems. Certainly there are some other cities that have done it more successfully?
Attachments:

I have to agree that the above ground metro stations are an eye sore.

yeah, it;d be pretty gay-ified. I dont want it. Bulid the damn tunnel. I for one would raise money for an impeachment campaign if whoevers in charge goes for teh elevated approach.

Here's the website that gives all the info for promoting under - http://www.tysonstunnel.org/

For all the goddamned tax revenues Virginia gets from northern virginia (fuck you, robert), for fucks sake why would they do this to us? Tysons is the 12th biggest business district in the country and probaby has a worse traffic congestion issue than any of the others. Aside from how disgustingly unpleasant the rail will look, the endless years of construction and interference will bring so much pain to so many people. We need to secede from the rest of this greedy, inbred state.

QuestionMark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does Fairfax Country really need a rail connection
> to Dulles?
>
> Or is this really about the contractors who will
> potentially
> make a couple hundreds of millions of dollars?


Why don't you ask someone who lives in Sterling or South Riding who works in DC?

i saw some commercial on tv about how they thought it would look horrible. they said it should be made underground. however, tunnels are really really expensive.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> however, tunnels are really
> really expensive.

fuck it. they built half teh damn metro underground in teh first place, now they whine about spending the money to build a tenth of the amount.

I think we should have a small heliport and run those huge helicopters, once every 15 minutes, to ferry people from tysons to dulles.

KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> they built half teh damn metro
> underground in teh first place, now they whine
> about spending the money to build a tenth of the
> amount.

they are stupid politicians who think the internet is a series of tubes. do you expect logical informed decisions someone that dumb?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The expansion of the rail to Dulles also includes
> and alternate tunnel under the Potomac. Right now,
> the orange and the blue lines share one tunnel and
> since Metro require at a least a 3 minute gap
> between trains through the tunnel, this extension
> will eliminate a current bottleneck in the system.


There are no plans for an alternate or second tunnel. Just more lies from Radiophile.

When this thread was created FIVE YEARS ago, many did not understand that Dulles rail was a real estate project, not a transprotation project. We were snookered into higher tolls so that landowners and developers could make hundreds of millions.

But just think, soon the thugs from DC will be able to reach out and touch the people of Tyson's, those along the toll road, and the new arrivals at Dulles, robbing them long before they even get near the Potomac! And those driving the toll road will pay to provide these thugs with a better class of victim.

Go live in Spotsylvania if you think thats the case. I'm sure no one will miss you. Seriously, go live out there or better yet go put your face 3 feet in the road and let a mack track rip your flesh from your spine.

Peace

In 10 years Spotsylvania will be the new Prince William. You can thank us.

You can't quit me. LAWL