Officials gathered to establish a new parking garage serving Virginia Railway Express riders and downtown Manassas Park visitors.
The new garage will be built on the north side of the railroad tracks, opposite the current Manassas Park VRE station parking lot. During a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, July 13, 2023, City Manager Laszlo Palko said the garage would be the "core" of the city's new downtown, which will feature a new movie theater, Jirani Coffeeshop, in addition to a new city hall and a public library which opened a year ago.
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With the region’s elected officials gathering at their annual retreat this Friday and Saturday, the Coalition for Smarter Growth continued to urge reform of the region’s transportation priorities.
A national poll of 2001 voters (90% of whom are drivers) released last week by Transportation for America revealed that two-thirds of Americans know highway expansions don’t cure traffic. Sixty-seven percent of American voters polled agreed that widening highways attract more people to drive, which creates more traffic in the long run, defeating the stated purpose for countless road expansion projects across the country.
In short, the public understands that “induced demand” is real, even if they are not aware of the term itself. Today, when officials in the DC region are planning for at least 900 more lane miles of highway and arterial road expansion and amid the ongoing debate over high-occupancy toll lanes for 495/270 in Maryland and 495 through Alexandria, the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) urged officials to reconsider these plans. “CSG’s Induced Demand fact sheet for local, regional, and state officials – released today – makes clear the failures of road expansion,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“Induced demand is the widely documented phenomenon in which widening major roads and highways results in more driving (vehicle miles traveled) that generally cancels out any congestion-reduction benefits in as little as five to ten years,” said Bill Pugh, Senior Policy Fellow for CSG and author of the fact sheet which draws upon numerous national and international studies and includes local DC area examples.
“Unfortunately, elected officials in the DC region continue to propose over 900 lane miles of major road expansion and continue to ignore the reality that it won’t work,” said Schwartz. “They will end up wasting billions of tax dollars and make our quality of life worse, not better.”
The Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board is currently developing its Visualize 2050 regional “constrained” long-range transportation plan1 (the existing 2045 plan includes 900 lane miles in road expansion), and in Northern Virginia right now, counties and cities are submitting project applications for funding through the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
CSG has previously shown in its “On the Wrong Road” report that the NVTAuthority’s “unconstrained” Transaction 2050 plan would add 1000 lane miles of roads in Northern Virginia alone and induce growth in driving at 1.5 to 3 times the rate of population growth in the outer suburbs. The NVTAuthority has allocated over half of its regional funding to road capacity expansion projects, even though the agency’s own Technology Strategic Plan acknowledges the reality of induced demand.
Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth
Editors note: Potomac Local News aims to share opinions on issues of local importance from a diverse range of residents across all our communities. If you’ve recently spoken at a Board of County Supervisors meeting, send us a typed copy of your remarks for publication to [email protected].
Virignia Railway Express: "Due to this morning’s incident involving an Amtrak train just south of Union Station, VRE service will continue to be impacted tomorrow. Train traffic is still suspended going into and out of Union Station, and we still are unable to retrieve our train equipment from the coachyard north of Union Station. This evening, we used the five train sets that had not entered the coachyard this morning to run as much service as possible. We plan to do the same for Wednesday, July 12 tomorrow morning."
"Please note that trains will not be able to enter Union Station tomorrow morning, so they will terminate at the L’Enfant Station. We plan to run ONLY the following trains to the L’Enfant Station tomorrow morning:"
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"Update: Fredericksburg trains 301, 303 and 305 and 315 will NOT operate."
Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS: "Amtrak derailment in tunnel at entrance to Union Station. Initial report minor in nature & no reported injuries. Fire units are working to reach the train, which is occupied."
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Virginia Railway Express: "The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has officially opened its new Lifecycle Overhaul and Upgrade (LOU) Facility, which allows the commuter rail service to perform expanded maintenance onsite in Spotsylvania County, Virginia."
"The LOU features a drop table to remove locomotive and railcar trucks and wheelsets; wheel truing machine to reprofile rolling stock wheelsets; overhead bridge crane with two lift points – one with a 5-ton and the other with a 30-ton capacity; and two tracks, each holding up to four locomotives or railcars."
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On a separate note, we're hearing rumblings about significant changes coming to Virginia's only commuter rail system, including weekend service, which we reported last week.
The system continues to see about a third of its pre-pandemic ridership.
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Stafford County Supervisor Meg Bohmke also serves on the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board.
Today, Bohmke said much of the discussion held during a June 16 planning meeting for the state's only commuter railroad, held at the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (OmniRide) in Woodbridge, focused on keeping the system afloat.
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“The Amtrak Step-Up program allows VRE multi-ride ticketholders to ride select Amtrak trains for an additional charge. The nearly $1.5 million in 1-395/95 Commuter Choice funding will not only provide for the program’s reinstatement but subsidize the cost of Step-Up tickets on VRE’s Fredericksburg Line, which runs parallel to I-95 and I-395. VRE is working with Amtrak to finalize trains to include in the program and a mechanism to allow VRE passengers to ride, as Amtrak began requiring reservations on all trains when the pandemic hit.”
Virginia Railway Express: "To promote the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) as a travel option for both commuters and day-trippers, the rail service will offer fare-free rides on its trains each Friday from June 2 to September 1."
"Fare-free travel will be available to passengers on both the Fredericksburg and Manassas lines for rides originating at any of VRE’s 19 stations. Tickets will not be required. VRE ridership is historically lower during the summer and on Fridays year-round, so the rail service can accommodate additional passengers, including larger groups looking to spend a day in the nation’s capital, or National Landing or Old Town Alexandria in Virginia."
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"Historic Manassas Inc. Facebook page:Â "Miss Virginia Volunteer 2023, Kate Clatterbuck, will be making a special appearance in Manassas on Sunday, May 28, 2023. During her visit, she will dedicate her time to volunteering at the Manassas Visitors Center and actively promote ticket sales for the highly anticipated Manassas Railway Festival [Saturday, June 3, 2023]."
"From 9:00 am to 11:30 am, Kate Clatterbuck, the reigning Miss Virginia Volunteer, will engage with the community, emphasizing the significance of the Manassas Railway Festival and its impact on the region."
