Around the corner today;
WTOP reports that the NVTC is serious about alternative solutions to the Route 7 transportation corridor. Could a dedicated transit lane help relieve congestion? Major questions remain, such as how will the portion of Route 7 at Seven Corners be handled and where would funding come from? Any solutions to Route 7 involving rail transit are likely a generation away due to these constraints, and considering that the Columbia Pike project and Potomac Yard transit projects are still in limbo in Fairfax, but at least someone is discussing it. (WTOP)
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Conference centers in a town with as much corporate presence as Tysons is an economic no brainer, which is why New York based Convene Corporation is planning on introducing a new space at 1800 Tysons Boulevard. The building which also houses Price Waterhouse Cooper is owned by Lerner Enterprises, who has had a tough year in lease competition with the introduction of Macerich’s Tysons Tower across the street, and the loss of Deloitte as a leaser at 1750 Tysons Boulevard. However, this positive announcement doesn’t allude the reality that Lerner has had real problems finding corporate partners at their proposed 18-story office across the street from 1800, at 1775 Tysons Boulevard, a project that has been delayed nearly 2 years. (Washington Post)
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It seems like every week a new restaurant is opening up in Tysons. This week Pho Deluxe opened up on the south side of Route 7 about a block off from the future Spring Hill Metro Station. (Patch)
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Interim parking may be coming to the McLean metro station. In other words, permanent parking is coming to the McLean Metro Station because there is no such thing as removing a parking space in suburbia. Once its there, it will be there forever, in one way or another. Evidently the Fairfax BOS still believes that providing more parking will solve traffic problems in Tysons, instead this proposal will likely induce more people to drive into Tysons, now for the purpose of catching a train to Arlington or DC instead of using the multi-million dollar upgraded Fairfax Connector system. That system upgrade primarily focused on bringing people from outside of the traditional circle of walkability (1/4 mile from the stations) into the transit picture via high frequency bus service.
Let’s call this proposal what it is, permanent parking subsidized by the tax payers to reduce the usage of an expensive bus system.