2. What specific transportation changes would you make for each mode of transportation — roads, metro, buses/trolleys, bikes/pedestrians — to improve traffic flow and efficiency throughout the city? What capital improvements are needed to make these alternatives feasible, and how will they be paid for?
I support the recently approved transportation master plan with its emphasis on dedicated and highly convenient transportation corridors, small scale neighborhood buses and improved pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Our ability to add roads to our city is almost non-existent due to space constraints as well as the fact that new roads won’t substantially improve our transportation challenges. We can always work to better calibrate lights, but will always be challenged by the fact that we have to coordinate the lights for east – west and north-south residential travel. This reality limits our ability to set the lights up to always shine green in any given direction.
We need to keep our focus on improving the reliability and convenience of non-auto forms of travel. Increasing metro and bus usage (both of which have been rising) is a key part of that. As are other forms of travel, like biking and walking. Alexandria has seen an enormous increase in biking to work in recent years. We now lead Arlington in that transportation metric with over 9% of commuters saying they either walk or bike to work as compared to 5.5% in 1994.
As we build our first dedicated transit ways near Potomac Yard and hopefully after that on the west end of the city, we need to select a transportation technology (e.g. trolley or other vehicle) that is safe, quiet, accessible, convenient and that will align with efforts in neighboring jurisdictions. We need to think regionally as we build our dedicated transit system in order to ensure it fosters convenient travel inside Alexandria as well as from Alexandria to other nearby locations.
The financing solution for transportation is made up of five parts. We need all of them to be working for our efforts to move forward. First, the Commonwealth needs to get its work done and come up with a new transportation-funding plan. Second, Alexandria needs to adopt a TIF policy similar to Arlington, DC and other governments in the region to take advantage of Tax Increment Financing to build needed infrastructure. Third, we need to work with developers to help fund some infrastructure; having a clear plan in place helps us do that. Fourth, we need to work with Federal partners, especially in areas like Potomac Yards, Eisenhower Valley, Beauregard, and other areas of the city to fund needed improvements. And lastly, we need to re-prioritize our own budget and capital budget priorities so that as the economy improves, we have clearly defined the infrastructure needed to ensure Alexandrians enjoy convenient, accessible transportation options.
Tags: Budget, Development, Mass Transit, Transportation
