Virginia
Zig Zag Road Striping Calms Traffic in Virginia
At 11 points in northern Virginia, the familiar straight dashed lines on the road gives way to a series of zig zags. The unusual markings, the result of a pilot project from the Virginia Department of Transportation, are meant to alert drivers to be cautious where the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail intersects with the road -- and bicyclists and pedestrians frequently cross.
November 20, 2015
People Won’t Ride the Tysons Corner Metro If They Can’t Walk to Stations
A year after the Washington Metro opened the Silver Line in Northern Virginia, apartment rentals are booming and development is roaring ahead. But Martin Di Caro of WAMU reported Monday that the Metro itself isn’t meeting expectations:
August 5, 2015
Parking Madness 2015 Elite Eight: Newport News vs. Syracuse
Yesterday, Camden knocked off Detroit in Parking Madness, giving the Garden State the first spot in our Final Four.
March 26, 2015
Will Arlington Streetcar Foes Support BRT Instead?
News broke yesterday that Arlington, Virginia, is abandoning plans for a 7-mile streetcar along Columbia Pike.
November 19, 2014
The Koch Brothers’ War on Transit
Transit advocates around the country were transfixed by a story in Tennessee this April, when the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity made a bid to pre-emptively kill Nashville bus rapid transit. It was an especially brazen attempt by Charles and David Koch's political network to strong-arm local transportation policy makers. But it was far from the only time the Kochs and their surrogates have taken aim at transit.
September 25, 2014
Fixing a Blank Wall Streetscape With Storefront Retrofits
Every city has places where the buildings present a blank face to the sidewalk. A dark, recessed arcade deadening the pedestrian environment or a soulless concrete wall fronting a windswept plaza.
September 5, 2014
Decades in the Works, D.C.’s Silver Line Opens to Commuters
Half a century ago, when Dulles International Airport was constructed in the farmlands of Virginia, planners were forming a blueprint for the Washington region’s new Metro system. Back then, they ruled out the idea of stretching the rail line 30 miles beyond the capital through rural counties to connect with the airport. Such a line would serve no purpose for commuters, they said, and would do nothing to help congestion.
July 28, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Good Riddance, “Level of Service”
All the buzz right now is about Arlington, Virginia -- the DC suburb has seen its population rise and its car traffic drop since the 1980s. How did they do it? It could be a lesson for Palo Alto, California, which is considering various growth proposals, including one that would invite greater density as long as it comes with no additional driving, carbon emissions, or water use.
July 15, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings In the Metro
The metro is coming to Loudon County, Virginia. Eventually.
June 13, 2014
Parking Craters Aren’t Just Ugly, They’re a Cancer on Your City’s Downtown
Streetsblog's Parking Madness competition has highlighted the blight that results when large surface parking lots take over a city's downtown. Even though Rochester, winner of 2014's Golden Crater, certainly gains bragging rights, all of the competitors have something to worry about: Cumulatively, the past 50 years of building parking have had a debilitating effect on America's downtowns.
April 10, 2014