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Final Report Executive Summary

Wiehle Avenue/Reston Parkway

Submitted to

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AcknowledgementsThisprojectistheaccumulationofmanymonthsofwork,noneofwhichwouldhavebeenpossible

withoutthehelpandsupportofthecommunity. Theprojectteamwouldliketoextenditssincerest

thankstothemanymembersoftheRestoncommunitywhoparticipatedinthisplanningprocess,

includingthosewhoprovideduswithinvaluablefeedbackthroughtheseriesofcommunitymeetings

thatwere

apart

of

this

project.

Most

especially,

we

would

like

to

thank

the

members

of

the

Reston

MetrorailAccessGroup(RMAG),whoadvisedtheevolutionofthesestationaccessplansonamonthly

basis,andtoSupervisorCathyHudginsforunderstandingtheneedforthisprojectinthecommunityand

forassemblingsuchadedicatedandhardworkinggroup.

PattyNicoson,Chair FaitmahAllahdoust,VirginiaDepartmentofTransportation MichaelBatt,GreaterRestonChamberofCommerce DanielBibeault,WinterportClusterPresident JenniferBlackwell,RestonAssociationBoardofDirectorsPresident AndrewCamarda,NewbridgeClusterPresident RobertDeans,HuntersGreenClusterPresident DaveEdwards,RestonAssociationTransportationCommittee

Baba

Freeman,

League

of

Women

Voters

KeithGoodman,FairfaxCountyDepartmentofTransportation JimLarsen,DullesAreaTransportationAssociationExecutiveDirector JoeLeighton,WethersfieldClusterAssociationPresident DianaLord,DisabilityServicesBoard KathrynMartin,RestonAssociationTransportationCommittee BrianMcMillan,HunterMillCommunityCoalition ColinMills,RestonCitizensAssociationBoard YousifMostafa,BostonRidgeClusterPresident MerrilyPierce,HunterMillDistrictStaff MaryPlunkett,HamptonMeadowClusterPresident KateRudacille,NorthernVirginiaRegionalParksAuthority

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FigureES 1:RecommendedStationAccessManagementActions

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NewconnectorbetweenSoapstoneRdandtheWiehleAvestation SunsetHillsRdbetweenWiehleAve&OldRestonAve

Planninglevel

cost

estimates

have

been

developed

for

each

of

these

projects.

The

total

cost,

including

anallowanceforrightofwayacquisitionandothercontingencies,isestimatedtobealmost$70million

in2007dollars. Evenwiththeserecommendedactions,theareasimmediatelysurroundingthestations

willexperienceheavycongestionduringpeakperiods. Thefulldemandwillnotbeaccommodatedand

manytravelers,particularlythosewhodonothaveanoriginordestinationwithinthestudyarea,will

finditdesirabletochangetheirroute,theirmodeoftravelortheirtimeoftravel. Policiesandprograms

thatencourageothermodesoftravel,includingacomprehensiveTDMprogramwillbeakeyelementin

accommodatingresidents,employeesandvisitorsinReston.

B. Pedestrians and BicyclistsAsetofgeneralrecommendationshasbeendevelopedthatshouldbeappliedtoallroadwaysand

intersectionsinthewholestudyarea. Basedontheproposedroadworknetwork,intersection

infrastructuredeficienciesandmissinglinksinthepedestrianandbicyclenetworksalongthesepaths

wereidentifiedandrecommendedimprovementswerehighlighted. Thirtythreeintersectionsandsix

trailcrossingswereanalyzedindetailwithspecificrecommendationsdevelopedforeach. The

recommendationsreflectthedesiretocompletethenetworkofpedestrianandbicyclefacilitiesin

Reston.On

street

bike

lanes,

currently

absent

in

Reston,

were

also

recommended

for

inclusion

on

severalroadways.

Pedestrianandbicyclerecommendationsweredevelopedtoimprovecirculationandsafetythroughout

theRestoncommunity,notonlyforpeopleaccessingthestationsdirectly. Internaltripswithinthe

Restoncommunityareexpectedtoaccountforalargeportionofpedestrianandbicycletraffic. Access

toandaroundtheRestonTownCenterwasaddressed,inadditiontopedestrianandbicycleaccess

acrosstheDIAAH. Intotal,theserecommendationsareestimatedtocostover$27milliontoconstruct.

Themajor

types

of

recommended

actions

included:

Crosswalks,pedestriancountdownsignalsandmedianrefuges. Additionalsidewalks. Sharedusetrails. Onstreetbikelanes.

Severalfeaturesofeachintersectionincludingusersafety,distancetotheMetrorailstationsand

communityinputwereusedtoprioritizetheserecommendations. Manyoftheserecommendedactions

wouldbe

appropriate

and

necessary

regardless

of

whether

or

not

Metrorail

comes

to

Reston,

as

pedestrianactivityisstilllikelytogrowintheareaandshouldbeencouragedtoavoidintolerable

congestion.

C. Transit and Feeder BusOpportunities for expanded bus service to feed the newMetrorail stations and provide local access

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FigureES 2:RecommendedPeakPeriodTransitRouteStructure North

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FigureES 3:RecommendedPeakPeriodTransitRouteStructure South

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EstimatesoftotalbusridershipintheRestonareawasdevelopedaspartoftheFEIS. Theseridership

levelsinadditiontofieldobservationsoflandusepatternswereusedtodeterminethenecessary

service

frequencies

on

each

of

the

recommended

routes.

Routes

with

higher

ridership

levels

were

recommendedtooperateathigherfrequenciesinordertoprovideadequatecapacity. Busfrequencies

weresetasmultiplesofsevenminutes(trainfrequencies)sothatthebuseswouldbeabletomatchthe

arrivalsofpassengersontheMetrorailtrains.

Estimatesforthenumberofvehicles,drivers,mechanicsandsupervisorystaffneededtooperatethis

newsystemweredevelopedbasedontheexistingservice,theestimatedtrafficspeedsin2030andthe

necessaryheadways. Itisestimatedthatanadditional14buseswillbenecessaryin2030,whichwill

require

a

corresponding

increase

in

operational

and

maintenance

staffing

levels.

The

recommended

serviceisestimatedtocostanestimated$15.2milliontooperatefortheyear2030(in2007dollars).

D. Integrated PrioritiesAnintegratedandprioritizedlistofalltherecommendationsdevelopedduringthecourseofthisstudy

forallpotentialmodes. Thisincludesadiscussionofthemajortradeoffsandpotentialfuturesolutions

forsomeoftheremainingunsolvedissues. TravelDemandManagement(TDM)strategies,which

encouragetravelers

to

switch

from

single

occupancy

vehicles

(SOV)

to

another

mode

of

travel,

are

also

discussed. Whileprioritizingprojectsinorderofimportance,thischapteralsodiscussestherealityof

implementationwhichdictatesthatsomeprojectswillbelongtermsolutionsthatcannotbe

implementedwithoutsignificantstudyandanalysis.

Therecommendedprogramisdividedintothreegroupsbasedonthedateofimplementation. Thefirst

group(showninFigureES 4)includesallprojectsthatarerequiredattheopeningoftheWiehle

Avenuestation. AlloftheroadwayprojectsaroundtheWiehleAvenuestationthatwerepartofthe

RODmitigation

efforts

are

included

in

this

group.

In

addition,

the

proposed

Soapstone

Connector

is

includedinthisgroupasadditionalconnectionacrosstheDIAAHintotheWiehleAvenuestation. Local

transitserviceshouldalsobetransitionedtothesystemproposedinthisreportaspartofthisgroup.

ThesecondgroupofprojectsincludesallprojectsthatarerequiredforaccesstotheRestonParkway

stationandshouldbeconstructedbythestartofPhaseIIservice. TheprojectsareshowninFigureES

5andincludeanarrayofpedestrianandbicycleimprovementsincludingsidewalks,trailconnections

andbikelanes.

Thethirdgroupofprojects,showninFigureES 6,areallprojectsthatarenotstrictlyrequiredfor

accesstoeitherstationbutarerecommendedtoimproveoverallaccessibilityinthestationareas. This

groupincludesmanyofthelargescaleprojectsthatrequiremajorrightofwayacquisitionofother

majorinvestments. Eachprojectinthisgroupshouldbecompletedassoonasanopportunitybecomes

available,whetherbeforeoraftertheopeningofeitherMetrorailstation. Themajorprojectsinthis

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willbecauseddirectlybythepresenceoftheMetrorailstation,manyoftheroadwayenhancement

projectswillbenecessaryanywayby2030. Additionally,manyofthebicycleandpedestrianfacilities

are

recommended

for

implementation

as

soon

as

possible

and

will

help

to

enhance

the

existing

pedestrianorientationoftheRestoncommunity. DespitetheobstaclespresentedtotheDullesRail

extensionasaproject,manyoftheprojectsdetailedinthisreportshouldstillbepursuedbyFairfax

County.

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FigureES 4:WiehleAvenueStationProjects

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FigureES 6:OtherRecommendedProjects