Lydia comments on the McMillan Sand Filtration site & its transportation plan; what do * you * think?

Washington City Paper Housing Complex reporter Lydia DePillis just posted an item on the DC Zoning Commission and its review of transportation plans of large development projects that go before the Zoning Commission.



Green Light
Posted by Lydia DePillis
on Jan. 4, 2012 at 5:57 pm
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Lydia briefly mentions Bloomingdale`s McMillan Sand Filtration site.

Here are the three paragraphs that reference the sand filtration site:

Then there’s McMillan Sand Filtration Plant, where development plans have engendered distrust for decades. A citizen group commissioned an outside expert to review the developer’s traffic study, asking for more information; local ANC officials are sure that adding hundreds more residences and large office buildings will make it impossible for people in surrounding neighborhoods to get to work.

But there are two problems with that.

One: Projects of a certain scale start to develop their own gravity. More residences and office workers are the only thing that justify large transportation investments like streetcars and bus rapid transit. And if there’s a mix of housing, commerce, and offices—which McMillan is supposed to have—people will be able to get to work, buy groceries, and take their kids to a playground without getting in a car. That way, even the largest of new developments won’t have the impact residents fear.

Two: Sometimes traffic is good. Urban places are congested. And well-managed congestion—with a robust array of alternatives—encourages people to do something different, like move closer to where they work, telecommute, or bike instead of drive. All take the pressure off a traffic study as something that people seize on to contain a new development.

What do you think ?