Flashbacks:
The RNGC Caddyshackpocalypse
Bollards!
For a while, we were hoping these elaborate fortifications that have cropped up on Wiehle near Baron Cameron Avenue over the last month were the beginnings of some sort of protective barricade against the 1 Percent in "Great" Falls or something. But no, turns out all the grading and digging and ripping out of trees and moving utilities and whatnot is just for some sidewalk that's literally been in the works for a decade. Though seeing how much work is involved in just putting down a narrow slab of concrete, we understand why it was just easier to put Soapstone on a diet than building sidewalks there, the end.
Yeah, Hudgins wants all the folks living up in North Reston to walk to the Metro at Wiehle. Is a road diet to accommodate those who want to ride bikes along Wiehle on the drawing board? Imagine bikes on the S-curves there.
ReplyDeleteSo how do they plan to shore up that wall of dirt?
ReplyDeleteFolks, do you ever actually drive on Wiehle? The place where this sidewalk is going has long been a dirt foot path, generally unsafe for pedestrians because of the number of trees that cause walkers to hug the road. They're building a retaining wall in front of that dirt. And all of this has nothing to do with Metro.
ReplyDeleteThis sidewalk was in the plans before the Silver Line was a gleam in even the most wildly optimistic developers' eyes. Apparently the Northgate condo association held out when the county wanted to buy an easement to build it. A dysfunctional condo board? Who would have thunk it?
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love this place, I am still shocked by the hippy-dippy legacy we continue to enjoy. Meandering trails in woods behind developments, coupled with streets without streetlights or sidewalks. And now a get-well plan that takes many years, and with the extra expense of retrofitting.
ReplyDeleteAttempting something new is exciting and admirable; throwing out all that is obviously sensible is somewhere between hubris and stupidity. Stubris. (If it is not a word, it should be.)
On the plus side my 4-year-old son finds the construction fascinating!
ReplyDeleteSo that means that we should expect a decade for a sidewalk to be built once announced. Yay for Super Hudgins! Sidewalks for the elite in the North, bike lines and dirt for the peasants in the South.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone answer this? Why build sidewalks instead of an asphalt trail? It seems they would both provide the same function but my assuption is that the asphalt trail would cost less to build and maintain.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:10--
ReplyDeleteSuper Hudgins. That's funny. You could make a nice, big poster with "Super Hudgins" written on it and take it down to her office when you ask her just who will make the decision regarding the rezoning of our residential neighborhoods. That's coming later this year. Reston Master Plan Revision, Phase 2.
I have to ask but who would walk from Baron Cameron and Wiehle corner to the station anyway?
ReplyDeleteReston now has its own sidewalk to nowhere.