Monday notes: Airport noise complaints; McKay on Metro funding; jury duty scam, stables update
Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay, right with microphone, and Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck, far left, give a presentation at Saturday’s Embark Richmond Highway community meeting. (Jeff McKay image)
McKay calls for dedicated funding
Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay published an op-ed in The Washington Post this weekend that calls for the state of Virginia to recognize the importance of Metro and VRE to the state’s overall revenue. McKay, who also serves as chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and is a member of Virginia’s Transit Capital Project Revenue Advisory Board, cited a study that showed that for every dollar Virginia invests in Metro and VRE, it receives about $2.50 in return.
“It is time for Virginia’s legislators to come together and find sufficient and permanent revenue that can be dedicated to transit,” McKay wrote, adding that “costs associated with world-class rail service are undeniably high, but so is the return.”
Read the full op-ed on the Post website.
Complaints add up
Residents in the Fort Hunt and Mount Vernon have made their frustration heard when it comes to the increased noise from planes landing at Reagan National Airport. A new study released by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority shows that residents of the Alexandria area of Fairfax County — a new category added last year — accounted for the highest number of noise complaints in 2016.
Residents in neighborhoods to the east of Richmond Highway have organized and enlisted local politicians to help with the noise issue, which started when the FAA implemented the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) at Reagan National Airport in 2015. Residents from other areas, including Maryland and the District of Columbia, have also mobilized to get answers from the FAA about what can be done.
Read the full article here.
Woodlawn stables update
It’s been three years since Woodlawn Stables was forced to close due to the Route 1 widening project at Fort Belvoir. The closing of the stables, a community fixture on Richmond Highway for more than four decades, was controversial and a deep loss for many residents.
Since that time, the family that owned the stables has relocated operations to Jeffersonton, Virginia, taking their lesson horses and reopening as “Claddagh Farm.” It’s a smaller facility than the original 60-acre Woodlawn Stables, but the family has worked to begin a new chapter in their generations-old business.
Read more on connectionnewspapers.com.
Jury duty scam
The Fairfax County Police are warning citizens to be on the lookout for telephone scammers claiming to be from the county’s sheriff’s office. The fake “deputies” claim that you’ve missed jury duty and that a warrant has been issued. The scammers, who are asking for store gift cards, pre-paid debit cards or money orders to pay fictional court costs and fines, are sophisticated enough to spoof caller IDs.
Read more on the FCPD blog.
College football updates
- Nebraska wideout De’Mornay Pierson-El, a 2014 West Potomac graduate, led the Cornhuskers in receiving during their 21-17 loss to Northern Illinois on Saturday. Pierson-El finished with eight catches for 101 yards — both career highs for the senior.
- Villanova freshman receiver Josh McGrigg, a 2016 Mount Vernon graduate, had two catches for 18 yards in the Wildcats’ 59-0 win over Layfayette.
It’s very disappointing that misunderstanding of Route 1’s widening is still so prevalent as to bring statements like, “It’s been three years since Woodlawn Stables was forced to close due to the Route 1 widening project at Fort Belvoir.” Fact is the only thing BRAC or Belvoir had to do with it is that the post’s new hospital provided the impetus for Cong. Jim Moran to get funds needed for the project.
Need for the widening was NOT brought about by BRAC’s realignment of Fort Belvoir. Plans for widening the road had been on the books for nearly 20 years at the time BRAC came about. VDOT had detailed plans drawn up, and had held a number of public meetings about it. (See http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/studynova-rt1.asp) For whatever reason, however, neither the state nor the county were ever able to fund the project. Moran, along with the Maryland delegation, was able to go to their colleagues in Congress and make the case that road improvements around Belvoir and Bethesda were critical to ensuring our Wounded Warriors and military beneficiaries could get to the facilities as conveniently as possible. Congress appropriated $300 million to DoD, $180 million of which was used to widen Route 1 from Telegraph Road to Jeff Todd Way.
The widening was done largely according to VDOT’s long-prepared plans, including the entire stretch that cuts across Belvoir. The only real major difference from those plans occurs north of the post near the Baptist church, where the new alignment was curved south, across the land occupied by the stables. That entire issue was solely between the stables and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The NTHP owns the land where the stables were. For reasons only coincidentally related to the road widening, the NTHP had opted not to renew the stable lease. That alone is what “forced” the stables to move. You would need to ask the NTHP, VDOT, and, the Mount Vernon Supervisor why things happened the way they did with that part of the Route 1 widening.
Again, please understand the post had no interest in how that part of the road was aligned since it is completely off the installation. The alignment could have continued on its original straight line to Jeff Todd Way with no impact on Belvoir’s mission or on how people get onto or off the post. I’ll reemphasize, too, that, had it not been for the BRAC realignment of Belvoir (specifically the new hospital), the community’s long-needed widening might never have happened.