Statement: Update on TWG for Reston Task Force, May 11, 2010

Progress of RCA Reston 2020’ Transportation Work Group
In Creating a Statement of Reston Transportation Needs

May 11, 2010

Terry Maynard, Chairman
Transportation Work Group


Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the Reston Task Force. I am Terry Maynard, Chairman of the RCA Reston 2020 Transportation Work Group. With the County providing a briefing on Reston transportation conditions this evening, I thought it would be useful to give you a brief update on the progress of our work group.

First, however, I would like to thank you for your valuable time and effort in helping shape Reston’s future. It is an unbelievably important task to all Restonians—residents, businesses, developers, and others—both current and future. I appreciate the complexities you face in balancing all the important interests in planning a better Reston and wish you the wisdom and foresight to accomplish that challenging task.

As for our the Transportation Work Group, we have been meeting over the last two months to develop a reasonable statement of Reston’s transportation needs over the next three decades. We are building our work on the excellent foundation laid by the Reston Metrorail Access Group, expanding it beyond the two Metro station areas it examined to the entirety of Reston. In so doing, we have researched “best practices” in urban transportation planning elsewhere, including Arlington and Montgomery TOD efforts. We have walked the Herndon-Monroe TOD area to understand its special transportation challenges, solicited inputs from local transportation experts, and we have discussed our effort with County transportation staff.

Although our work on Reston’s transportation needs is not yet complete, the following are the key transportation planning principles that are driving it:
• We need a rich mix of transportation options to serve the TOD areas and the Reston Town Center to sustain their economic viability and livability.
• We need to expand the connectivity between north and south Reston across the Dulles Toll Road corridor to preserve our community and better serve Reston Town Center and the TOD areas.
• We must provide robust transportation alternatives for residents and workers beyond TOD areas and Reston Town Center to reduce dependence on personal vehicles given the substantial percentage of Restonians who work, shop, and play here.
• We must develop and expand programs that reduce the demand for peak period work-related driving to limit added congestion.
• We must discourage driving to and from TOD areas, especially during peak periods, to prevent gridlock on Reston’s thoroughfares.

We look forward to sharing the results of our work with you in the weeks ahead as well as discussing it with you at the June 8th public input session or another appropriate time.