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River House Development Talking Points

[ 0 ] November 17, 2016 |

RIVER HOUSE TALKING POINTS

Zip Code 22202 (Crystal City, Pentagon City and the surrounding neighborhoods represented by the Arlington Ridge and Aurora Highlands Civic Associations) is a unique geographic zone which is tantamount to a fortress given that it is walled off by Interstate 395 to the north and west, untraversable railroad tracks to the east, and Four Mile Run to the south, with only a scant few gateways allowing vehicular access to it from the north and south – none from the east or west. And, there are only two north/south roadways running through the fortress, Ridge Road and Jeff Davis Highway which, presently, are highly congested during rush hours.

After a number of amendments over the years, the Pentagon City PDSPs currently grant developers the right to build additional office and apartment buildings in the coming years which will double the existing resident population and tripple of the number of office workers within just Pentagon City.

Moreover, the Crystal City Sector Plan calls for the redevelopment of Crystal City in the coming years in a manner that will double its current resident population and increase the office square footage by roughly 67 percent which, given current office vacancy levels and the trend toward open floor plans and smaller offices, will at least double the current number of office personnel working in Crystal City in the future.

Further, Alexandria is in the process of adding a new Metro stop to service the burgeoning development it is hosting in the Potomac Yard region along Jeff Davis Highway immediately to the south of 22202 which will add many thousands of additional commuters needing to pass into and through 22202 in the coming years via public transit and personal vehicles.

This new development and very significant population growth will inevitably exacerbate transit and vehicular congestion in 22202 and, very possibly, negatively impact the safety and quality of life of those living and working in 22202 in the years to come.

Before any additional up-zoning and development is considered, much less approved, by Arlington County in 22202, above and beyond that which it has already approved to be built, the County must first complete a holistic traffic and transit congestion study taking into account not just historic data but also future population growth and determine the extent to which existing infrastructure will be adequate to accommodate that growth; and, if not, whether the County will be able, physically and financially, to provide the necessary infrastructure to do so.

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