Tysons Corner - Where the Gridlock Is

I have been living in Tysons Corner, Virginia for about three years now. Technically I can say that I'm in McLean since that's what my address says but I'm so close to the mall that it's easier to tell people that I live in Tysons Corner. For those of you who aren't from Washington or aren't familiar with the area, Tysons Corner is the largest retail shopping mall in the Washington, D.C. area. With all the major stores, the original Tysons Corner is the place to go shopping. About a year ago, they expanded the mall tearing down the old JC Penny and adding dozens of new stores and restaurants. It's quite convenient for those of us who live close by. But it's the rumors that this is just the beginning that is worrying me.

Like I said, I have lived in the area for three years so I have come to accept some of the quirks that come with living in the area. What do I mean by quirks? Well, for example; I attend a martial arts class in Vienna, a mere 5 mile drive away. On a normal day, it won't take more than ten minutes to make the drive. That's typically how long my commute is on a Saturday morning for class. On a weeknight? Better multiply that time by almost five. That's right; it can take up to 45 to 50 minutes to make the same 5 mile drive. The reason? There are dozens of high-rise offices in the area in addition to the shopping and residences so around rush hour there is a mad exodus to get out of the area. The traffic on the roads is so bad at times that you can sit there and see little kids learning to walk faster than you may be driving. This is on a normal day, during Christmas and holiday shopping time it can get even worse!

I am all for improving the area and bringing in new business and revenue provided the infrastructure is improved as well. I pay a sizeable sum in property taxes and I'm sure I'll pay more as the area goes up in cost but I don't see why I should be paying more if nothing is being done to improve the roads. The proposed Metro stops in the area are still years away. Heck, they haven't even broken ground on the project yet. We're still debating on who will be paying for what! In the meantime, roads such as Route 7 and Route 123 remain in the same form they have been for decades which is two or three lanes wide with traffic lights one after another.

The plans that have been drawn up seem to only add to the problems if this infrastructure isn't fixed at the same time. In the drawings you see a utopian landscape of wide avenues and happy families walking with a handful of cars along the roads. This is either because the shoppers and residents alike are using the Metro or that gas prices have gone so high that no one but the uber-rich are willing to drive! Meanwhile, every bit of currently-unoccupied space will then give way to high-rise office buildings, multi-story condos and apartments and a brand spanking new 300-room hotel right in the area that's indicated.

In math you use ratios to determine the order of magnitude to which a number is increased. For example, let's say you take the fact that traffic is currently bad enough to multiply travel time by five; if we increase the number of homes and offices in the area by a factor of ten then you can just imagine, even without any knowledge of math, what that will mean to the traffic in the area. We have bottlenecks galore and with no end in site. A little over a year ago the county extended the length of the merge lanes from the Dulles Toll Road onto the Beltway. This was meant to eliminate bottlenecks. All it did was move it a little father along. By about 100 feet or so. The problem has decreased, but only by an inconsequential amount. Not enough to get excited about and nowhere near enough to think that things will improve with the addition of more retail and residential space.

Perhaps the thinking is that with more residential space, those regular shoppers at the mall will no longer need to commute but will walk to and from their place of work and leisure. I can just hear the cries of horror from so many spouses! I am hopeful that this plan will be delayed a bit before being executed. Currently the housing market in the Washington area is slowing after record highs and homes are taking longer to sell. The condo market is the first one being affected. Those in existance aren't selling all that well so the new ones are taking even longer to go off the market. If this trend continues perhaps the planners of the future of Tysons Corner will see the wisdom in not expanding for the sake of putting money in their pocket. And then perhaps this once-quiet corner of Northern Virginia will remain somewhat civilized as opposed to turning into George Lucas' vision of what a city should be like.