Potential redevelopment in Tysons Corner took a step forward at the Board of Supervisors March 21 meeting. Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence), whose district includes the Tysons Corner area, received approval to appoint a committee that will assist consultants in developing transportation recommendations.
The committee is comprised of representatives from Providence, Hunter Mill and Dranesville Districts, the three that will be most directly impacted by any changes. It will be in charge of organizing forums for public comment and collecting written comments which area residents might submit.
This year, Tysons Corner, along with the rest of the northern half of the county, is being considered for changes to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. The plan governs land use for each parcels of land in the county and is reviewed every five years in a process called the Area Plans Review. In Tysons Corner, 21 separate parcels of land have been nominated for a change, generally by developers seeking higher density.
Of those, 20 are related to the proposed Silver Line extension to Metrorail, which is slated to extend from the Orange Line station at West Falls Church, through Tysons, to Wiehle Avenue in Reston by 2009. Eventually, the line is planned to continue on to Dulles Airport. Four stops are planned in the Tysons Corner area.
County land-use guidelines allow for extra density within a half-mile of a Metro stop. So, with the Metro line and other potential road projects, the county hired consultants Cambridge Systems and HNTB to perform a study of traffic patterns and urban design in the Tysons area.
The consultants will study, among other things, about 20 intersections to determine their level of use, said Leonard Wolfenstein, of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.
THE AREA to be studied is about 1,700 acres in size and comprises the Tysons urban area. The Comprehensive Plan describes the area as generally a triangle, "bounded on the southeastern side by Magarity Road and on the southwest side generally by the limit of commercial development along Gallows/Old Courthouse roads and the natural areas of Old Courthouse Stream Branch. The residential areas on the western side of Gosnell Road flanking Old Courthouse Road are also part of the Tysons Corner area. On the north, the third side of the triangle is generally bounded by Dulles Airport Access and Toll roads."
Wolfenstein noted that some intersections that are just outside of the boundaries may also be studied, since they are likely to have an effect on what happens within the area.
When the study is complete, the consultants will submit recommendations for how much, if any, additional density should be permitted in Tysons Corner, and also how the urban landscape in the area — sometimes called "Fairfax County’s Downtown" — should look.
The traffic data generated by the consultants will be used during the consideration of the various Area Plans Review nominations, but will also have a broader scope. "It’s a matter of the [Area Plans Review] nominations don’t cover the whole area," Wolfenstein said. "The basis for planning will be this study."
The board-appointed committee is supposed to ensure that the general public is not left out of the process. "They are going to be organizing public input," Smyth said. Committee members are Planning Commissioner Ken Lawrence (Providence), Planning Commissioner Frank de la Fe (Hunter Mill), Bob Adams (Providence) George Barker (countywide) Wade Smith (Dranesville), Bruce Wright (Hunter Mill), George Lamb (Providence), Stephanie Mansh (countywide), Irv Auerbach (Dranesville), Del. Jim Scott (D-53), Clark Tyler (Dranesville), Michelle Crocker (Hunter Mill) and a member of the Planning Commission of the Town of Vienna. The committee will also include non-voting representatives from each of the three supervisor’s offices.
While engineers studying the patterns may be able to provide theoretical data, the committee will ensure that realities of day-to-day movement are not ignored. "They’re [the public] the people who work there and live there. What do they see as the existing problems at Tysons?" Smyth said.
Smyth said that the public input will also help the consultants to analyze real-world scenarios. "What do people want to do at lunch time?" Smyth said. "We need what people will use."