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The Metro board didn't spend their entire day on the fare hike issue Thursday. They also voted to spend $450,000 to develop a proposal to add an eastern entrance to the Rosslyn station.
Metro says the new entrance would include three new high-speed elevators, an underground station mezzanine and passageway connection, and an emergency stairway. Since the preliminary plans are still to come, the precise location of the entrance is still unknown, especially considering how many new developments are currently planned or under construction in the immediate area.
Arlington County is paying for the proposal development process out of funds leftover from the Ballston station improvement project from 2006, which added elevators and develped plans to open a new entrance to that station as well.
Photo by Samer Farha
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Why?!? Does Rosslyn need a second entrance? especially compared to Shady Grove, where there's a 10 minute wait to get out every night.
Mojotron, perhaps you should get the local government to cough up the bucks to fix the problem. I'm not really sure why it needs another exit, especially to the east, but I'm stunned how much these proposals cost. I'm in the wrong business, for sure.
I think this is probably a good idea. There's a few new office buildings going up and the high speed elevators will probably be nice, considering how huge that escalator is.
This, my friends, is what the fare hike will be paying for.
Where else would you have people come out in Shady Grove? There is no where else to put an exit that is near anything of interest.
I think the stations with more than one entrance/exit have them because there are several possible destinations people could be going to (Gallery Place, for example, and all 1,872 exits out of that station). Or there is a major street at the entrance/exit, so you have openings on either side, rather than forcing people to cross the street (Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, etc).
High speed elevators though, now that sounds exciting.
with the 2 new towers going in just across from the current entrance, there is going to be a major increase in metro traffic which will call for that second exit...
How about a high-speed people mover under the river? That way, everyone who lives in Rosslyn who can't shut up about the fact that they are within easy walking distance to Georgetown (which is all of them) can actually be telling the truth.
plus, i mean, it's shady grove...does anyone who uses that metro even deserve to have another exit?
Rosslyn has a TON of new residential and commercial projects coming online in the next few years. If they're projecting a half million new visitors to Rosslyn, I think expanded Metro exits make sense.
Add to that the volume of traffic, private and public, coming up Route 1 through Crystal City over the next decade, and it makes sense that they'd be pushing this now instead of when the escalators get choked with the bodies of commuters. Because at that point, your only hope is to import expensive zombies to consume the piles of rotting corpses, and right now, NoVA isn't exactly what I'd call "immigrant-friendly."
Thus we enter a whole new era in WMATA, where Metro actually plans ahead.
Hold on, was that an Onion headline?
First, they should fix the existing elevator in Rosslyn which was out of service this week. Then we'll talk about a new entrance.
Metro: "We don't like raising fares, but considering our cash situation, we must raise them to meet our basic service needs."
Metro: "Our next order of business, spend $450,000 to see if a new entrance at Roslyn would be neat and fun!"
Hey, maybe the entrance and the study are needed, but honestly, you think they would of hold spending votes until another day... Advice to Metro, take advantage of people short attention spans.
I believe Metro's funding shortfall is for the operating budget, not the capital budget. There are many sources for capital funding that cannot be applied to operating costs. I would presume that the assumption is that the benefits of a new entrance would more than offset the cost in the long run.
The study is being paid for using funds designated for planning capital projects in Arlington County. It's not like it's available to help cover the cost of running 8-car trains or something.
Finally, good planning is essential before embarking on a project of this magnitude. And planners need to eat. $450,000 isn't a huge budget in the grand scheme of things.
@RJ: That makes no sense. You can't figure out how much money you need if you don't know how much you're going to spend.
This seems a good thing, price notwithstanding. Would you rather look into that neat and fun entrance when the massive development in Rosslyn is completed, which includes:
- 3,892,622 square feet of office space
- 440,251 square feet of retail space
- 3,880 housing units
- 427 hotel rooms
Umm, if I lived or worked in Rosslyn and took the metro, this would scare the crap out of me. Planning: good.Jamie,
Read harder. I said nothing about the report or the entrance use or uselessness. It’s not an issue in my comment. My comment was on Metro's timing of the vote.
I thought that nobody really wanted to live in Rosslyn, and all of those brand-new condos had been converted over to rentals. Despite its proximity to the District, it really is one of the crappiest places anyone could want to live in Arlington County, along with Crystal City.
How many people posted comments here without reading past the headline?
HCE,
No, the crappiest place to live in Arlington is the Eclipse Condo/Apartment complex sorta in Crystal City (next to Target), they are literally across the street and down wind of the sewage treatment plant.
The street profile is like this: going west to east in the span of 4000ft.
Sewage treatment plant, Rt1, The Eclipse, CSX Tracks, Metro Tracks, GW Parkway, National Airport RW4 and RW1.
>I thought that nobody really wanted to live in Rosslyn, and all of those brand-new condos had been converted over to rentals.
So, apartment dwellers... don't... actually... live there?
Sorry. Not following.
@RJ: My first sentence, which began with "@RJ", responded to that notion. The second half was a general comment, since others said this was dumb. But I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that you aren't in favor when you referred to it as "neat and fun."
But whatever. If I misunderstood that insinuation, then replace the word "you" in my second sentence with "y'all" and don't take it personally.
2nd entrance? Pfff. A second tunnel would really get me excited.
"So, apartment dwellers... don't... actually... live there?
Sorry. Not following."
Well... yes. There are tons of vacancies in many of those high-rise apartment buildings. Actually selling those units as condos would be far more profitable, at least short-term, than turning them over to rentals, but without buyers, they sit empty. I guess it's not a bad place to live if you only sleep there and don't actually intend on spending any time enjoying your neighborhood. Decent restaurants/recreation/entertainment are not plentiful in Rosslyn.
2nd entrance? Pfff. A second tunnel would really get me excited.
Ain't that the truth. I hear Bill Gates is leaving his kids squat, so surely he can cough up few bills.
RJ: Totally agreed on your comment about the Eclipse=crappy living and wanted to add on. While the Metro tracks are within hearing distance from the apartments (perhaps rattling distance as well), the closest Metro entrance is National Airport which is over a mile and a half of non-pedestrian-friendly walking to get to the Eclipse.
No, the crappiest place to live in Arlington is the Eclipse Condo/Apartment complex sorta in Crystal City (next to Target),they are literally across the street and down wind of the sewage treatment plant.
But great for anosmics!
How many people posted comments here without reading past the headline?
Arlington County is paying for the proposal development process...
Bob, did you read past that?
"...out of funds leftover from the Ballston station improvement project from 2006."
I agree with RJ. The timing from a PR perspective is a little ridiculous. If your operating expenses are under such a shortfall, alleviate that by freezing some of your capital spending and infuse it into your operating budget as a means to spend down the deficit. Macro 101.
Thus we enter a whole new era in WMATA, where Metro actually plans ahead.
If Metro really was planning ahead, they would fund a study to better improve the efficiency of traveling on the Orange line through Rosslyn, as they not only add:
3,892,622 square feet of office space
440,251 square feet of retail space
3,880 housing units
427 hotel rooms
but also extend the Orange line into Loudoun County.
All this study is doing is looking to make easier for people to access and stand on a platform and wait for 15 minutes as crowded trains pass them by.
Arlington County has more money than they know what to do with.
"I'm stunned how much these proposals cost."
Proposal is the wrong word here. This project is the preliminary design, which (assuming Metro is like the railroads my company works for) will include drawings and other design documents. It's a large project.
drew in adams morgan,
Arlington County is paying for this with leftover money. That does not mean that the leftover money can be used for something else. My assumption is that it must be used for something in Arlington County or the County would not release the money. You can criticize that decision but if I was taxpayer in the County (I am in Alexandria), I would be pissed with my officials if they used that money for anything other than more infrastructure in the County.
Yes, it would be good to have the Orange out to Loudoun and at least once a week, I wish the Farragut tunnel existed but those are things in other jurisdictions. The capital funds seem to be paid for out of the local jurisdiction. No way would Arlington (nor should they) release that for another area.