Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Streetcar Design and Engineering Funding Goes to County Board



Hey, Yupette,

Streetcar design and engineering funding goes to the County Board for approval tonight. A $26 million waste of money. But first the County Board has to vote on consent agenda items - bicycles for all in Arlington 24/7/365 (still plenty of parking for non-residents who want to commute one-to-a-vehicle), and more video surveillance on everyone.

Given the experience of bicyclists in Tucson, where streetcar tracks are lethal weapons, you would think the County Board Majority would say no to streetcars and yes to ART bus service for all of Arlington neighborhoods instead. No way that will happen, since Jay Fisette, Mary Hynes, and Walter Tejada have long been infected by a virulent strain of the New Urbanism socioeconomic belief system...aka cult....aka religion which permanently and irrevocably alters the ability of adherents to think rationally.

Evening session of the County Board meeting starts at 6:30 in the County Board Room, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Third Floor.

Pike Rider

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

ART buses for everyone...

Anonymous said...

Libby Garvey is correct...streetcat system would be an albatross that would take a huge amount of dedicated transit funding that should go to other multi-modal transit projects.

Anonymous said...

Yes, ART buses for all neighborhoods, all residents, all weather, all terrain.

Anonymous said...

All Fisette, et. al. were able to say last night were the same lies about streetcars.

They would make the Pike another Ballston-Rosslyn corridor, that is clearly the intent. Streetcar systems are not about transportation, but development.

Anonymous said...

Who will pay for all the streetcar and track related accidents, especially when bicycle riders are uninsured like the illegal immigrants who work in local restaurants and as day laborers?

Anonymous said...

I doubt the County Board will be informed about signigicant cost overruns. County Manager and Staff will steal the money from some other transit project or defer a necessary transportation project for years, just as they deferred street paving for years and used the money for their pet vanity projects.

Anonymous said...

ART will not be expanded but will be starved for funding. Fisette, Leach, Donnellan and the rest of them will lengthen existing ART routes and tell us that's a big deal.

Anonymous said...

Same old same old from the Chamber of Commerce boosters.

Anonymous said...

Yes to multi-modal. More ART buses. No to making everyone ride a bicycle.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone doubt that Fisettte's next stunt is expensive infrastructure for the 2024 Olympics?

Anonymous said...

I'm all about fixing up the Pike- it really needs it and the completed(or nearly completed) sections are great. However, the streetcar is just unnecessary, not to mention stupid and dangerous. Arlington will regret the streetcar and the traffic nightmares it will create.

Anonymous said...

I want a streetcar referendum before the County Manager and County Staff rob street paving to pay for 'unexpected circumstances' uncovered during the so-called design and engineering process....like significant amounts of ground water.

Anonymous said...

As soon as streetcar tracks are laid down there will be accidents and bicyclists suing the County.

Anonymous said...

Yeah..."County Board will go into a closed meeting to discuss a laundry list of lawsuits arising from streetcar-related injuries".

Anonymous said...

I DO NOT want some County transportation bureaucrat who lives in Fairfax County and who drives to 2100 Clarendon alone in his or her SUV telling me I should ride a bicycle in the winter.

Here's what I have to say to him or her...take a cold carrot out of your refrigerator...and sit on it.

Anonymous said...

Pike will be a canyon full of bars and restaurants...that's Fisette's, Hynes's, and Tejada's 'Vision".

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see. Arlington residents will all be required to use 100 year old transportation technology while non-residents get to commute 1 per fuel cell powered SUV.

Anonymous said...

Can a bunch of ambulance chasing lawyers hanging out their shingles be far behind the laying of streetcar tracks on the Pike?

John and Jane Sheeple said...

Yes, we will gladly commute via bicycle this Winter so non-resident County Staff who preach the Car Free Diet Gospel can drive to 2100 Clarendon Blvd 1 per SUV and enjoy light traffic and ample parking.

Anonymous said...

End 'New Urbanism' ASAP....County is already a mess. Who the hell does Arlington's so-called 'planning', the former Planning Director of Metropolitan Orlando Florida?

Anonymous said...

Dedicated commercial real estate tax revenue would be the biggest source of revenue for the Pike streetcar.

But this tax revenue could be used for many other new transportation projects.

Anonymous said...

Where's the streetcar voter referendum which the pols on both sides of the issue want?

Anonymous said...

Scrap the streetcar, BRT on the Pike and in Crystal City and ART buses in all Arlington's neighborhoods instead.

Anonymous said...

Arlington County is a mess on the way to becoming a planning disaster. Brought to us by Arlington CPHD Staff who mostly live in Fairfax County.

Anonymous said...

There are significant problems with ground water along Columbia Pike near Four Mile Run. Who is determining the effect on streetcar construction, or will various geological problems just be ignored and the costs of remediation be taken from various slush funds the County Manager controls?

Anonymous said...

No money to replace crumbling sidewalks in the B-R Corridor? Of course not, it's all going to meet the wants of the streetcar, aquatic center, dog park, live theater, pub crawl, and bicycle special interests.

Anonymous said...

Time for a total moratorium on "New Urbanism".

What the hell has packing as much density into Arlington as possible done for me but raise my taxes and degrade my quality-of-life?

Anonymous said...

County will have to hire at least on full-time attorney who will be dedicated to bicycle injury lawsuits arising from streetcar tracks.

Anonymous said...

Jay Fisette should retire from the County Board and go inflict New Urbanism on Hawaii.

Anonymous said...

Arlington Democrats are Urban Village Idiots...all brainwashed by 'New Urbanism'.

Haven't we suffered enough over the past Century from 'isms' imposed on us by various elite politricksters throughout the world?

Anonymous said...

Anyone know how many bicycle accidents resulting from streetcar tracks so far this year in DC?

Anonymous said...

DC wants to ban bicycles sharing H Street with streetcars.

Anonymous said...

County will have to add another heavy rescue unit to the ACFD to deal with streetcar and streetcar tracks accidents.

Anonymous said...

Appears that the way DC will get the H. Street streetcar line to work will be to ban everything except streetcsrs and pedestrians from H. Street