Time to Re-Define “Regionally Significant”

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) is seeking public input on its draft 2014 fiscally Constrained Long Range Plan (CLRP). Click here to review the full draft CLRP and leave your comments.

A recent TPB newsletter claims the plan contains, “More than 300 regionally significant improvements to the Washington region’s highway and transit system through 2040.”

The left column below lists some of the projects the TPB considers to be among the most regionally significant. The right column lists projects of arguably greater regional significance that are not in the CLRP.

What’s In	What’s Not
Governor Nice/US 301 Bridge Reconstruction	American Legion Bridge Upgrade
DC Street Cars	8-Car Metro Trains
Purple Line	Maryland Beltway Upgrade
Corridor Cities Transitway	New Northern Potomac River Crossing
Arlington Street Cars	I-66 Major Upgrade

 

If resources committed to projects in the left column were transferred or otherwise committed to the projects in the right column, the regional plan would be far more “regionally significant” and the region’s transportation network far more efficient and less congested.

To get the metropolitan area moving again —

Our Regional Plan Needs More Regionally Significant
And Fewer Locally Significant Projects

It’s Time to Start Planning and Investing Regionally