Vote on WMATA Site Deferred

At the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday the board chose unanimously to defer their vote on the WMATA proposal for a bus garage on .

The vote on the proposal, which was deferred at the request of Lee District Supervisor Jeff MacKay, whose district is home to the site, will take place at the Board of Supervisors meeting on March 8th.

McKay suggested the deferral, so WMATA might inform homeowners groups about the risks associated with the site. Though the site is located in Lee District, the private residents who will be affected overwhelmingly reside in Mount Vernon District.

At the Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday 15 separate speakers challenged the WMATA proposal on the basis of traffic, safety, pollution and environmental concerns. Several of the speakers focused on a section of Newington Road that is mostly residential and connects to Telegraph Road. WMATA has promised not to use it (or Loisdale Road or Telegraph Road north of Fairfax County Parkway). But citizens noted that Fairfax County Public Schools, which houses a bus garage near the proposed site, made the same promise, yet the road is regularly used by buses.

McKay, who along with Hunter Mill District Supervisor Catherine M. Hudgins, sits on the WMATA Board of Directors, acknowledged that the site is not perfect, but said that the site has been an “environmental disaster in the past and been home to all manner of illegal activity.”

McKay welcomed other sites being offered for consideration but believe that none exist. Furthermore, he feared what might happen to the site should it fall into the hands of private industry, noting that WMATA is a public enterprise.

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Hyland is on record as opposing the site. His primary concern is with the increased traffic that will come to not just the area around the site, but at the primary access point, which is at Backlick Road and Fairfax County Parkway.

WMATA officials said that peak use for a new garage would be between 4:45 and 5:45 am with 71 buses operating during that time period. The Cinder Bed Road site would replace the garage currently located on N. Royal Ave in Alexandria.