Don’t Cut Tysons Corner in Two [View all]

via the Next American City blog:





This piece originally ran on Greater Greater Washington.


Virginia’s Fairfax County is planning to turn Tysons Corner, a commercial suburb just outside the District of Columbia, into a dense, walkable, urban center. This transformation will include the creation of street grid and better bike and pedestrian facilities. But two major thoroughfares will weaken pedestrian circulation and divide the new Tysons in two.

Route 123 and Route 7 are major six-lane roads running through the heart of Tysons Corner. The Silver Line, a planned extension of the D.C. Metro, will run along portions of either road, meaning that many pedestrians will be entering Tysons along these arteries.

But the construction of the Silver Line through Tysons Corner isn’t the only work being done in the corridor. Fairfax County is currently widening Route 123 from six to eight lanes.

The creation of a grid of streets coupled with bike/pedestrian improvements is necessary to facilitate movement within an urban Tysons, particularly to and from the Metro stations. The widening of 123, however, moves Tysons Corner in the opposite direction. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/buzz/entry/3299/