Photo by Mr. T in DC

The Sierra Club included Capital Bikeshare, Maryland’s Purple Line and Metro’s Silver Line extension out to Dulles Airport on its annual list of the country’s top 50 transportation projects, while lumping in a proposed outer beltway in Loudoun County on the list of the 50 worst such projects.

The environmental group said that Capital Bikeshare has been “very successful in increasing the relevance of bikeshares around the United States,” and that it helps resolve “first and last mile” transit dilemmas faced by many commuters. The 16-mile-long Purple Line would help make important connections between Metro lines, while drawing development in towards D.C. and “encouraging revitalization and development where it is most needed.” Similarly, said the group, the Silver Line would create transit-friendly nodes in otherwise car-centric Virginia suburbs and help decrease the number of car trips taken in the commonwealth.

As for Loudoun County’s outer beltway—a 50-mile project connecting I-95 to Route 7—the Sierra Club had this to say: “It will induce greater traffic demand by encouraging housing developments, strip malls and office parks along its route in the now rural areas of western Prince William and Loudoun Counties. This will, in turn, exacerbate environmental problems as auto-dependency and congestion in the region worsen.”