Mass transit is supposed to reduce traffic congestion by getting more people out of their cars. That’s the theory, anyway. But a detailed engineering analysis of traffic in Reston by 2030 around the three new Silver Line Metrorail stations by the Fairfax County Department of Transportation indicates otherwise. The county’s baseline planning scenario — “Scenario E” — shows gridlock at two key intersections: Sunrise Valley Drive and Reston Parkway, and Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road.
That’s because the scenario envisions doubled density around the Metro stations, shoehorning 50,000 new residents and 100,000 more workers into an area that currently contains 6,000 residents and 70,000 workers. As the DOT analysis suggests, the newcomers won’t all be walking to the subway. In fact, “peak of the peak” traffic at these two intersections will ground to a standstill for nearly four minutes, creating backups in the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond.
