Arlington transportation planners and an outside consultant have recommended the city establish a secondary mass transit network to deal with the county’s growing population.
The system would compliment the existing public transportation system — including Metro trains and buses, which are focused around high-density areas — the county has in place now.
“We’re expanding transport choice, giving people more options for how they get around,” said Arlington Transportation Department Director Dennis Leach. “We’re calling for substantial improvement of transportation not only between Arlington and the District, but are trying to provide a much higher level of service within the county.”
The goal of the secondary system would be to provide public transportation options to people who live outside of high-density areas like Courthouse and Clarendon. Options for this system included transit andcirculator buses.
This recommendation is one of many made in the draft document, released for public comment late Friday. The document makes recommendations for how Arlington can meet its long-term transportation needs.
Also included in the report is a recommendation that Arlington come into compliance with federal air quality standards, making streets pedestrian and bus-friendly and maximizing existing car parking space, among other projects.
What the report does not recommend is the costs of the improvements or how they would be covered.
Arlington County Board Chair Chris Zimmerman told The Examiner that funding for transportation improvements would come from many sources that would be determined as the projects move forward. He said none of the recommendations were surprising and said he hoped council would approve the plan by the end of the year.
Miles Grants, chair of the board of environmental group Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, praised the plan.
“It highlights a lot of the areas that we look out for. Complete streets, environmental sustainability, increase in energy efficiency, all those smart energy principles” are included, he said.
He added that he was concerned about funding. While the plan is ambitious in scope, some of the projects would likely take a back seat as costs increase.
At a glance
» A survey done in conjunction with the plan found that the most common modes of transportation for Arlington residents are driving and Metro.
» Residents list traffic, hard-to-find parking and crowded Metro trains as the biggest problems with transportation in the county.
dfrancis@dcexaminer.com
