Tuesday, July 17, 2012
A reader shares his thoughts regarding the supervisor's recent vote regarding Metro to Loudoun County.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Dear Editor, Leesburg Supervisor Ken Reid, as many know, voted to opt in to Metro despite a decade long career of advocating against it. Ken justifies this last minute flip with confusing doubletalk that maintains his opposition to the project and support of it in back to back sentences. Ken does have both bases covered in the event of success or failure. Ken’s recent constituent email said this, “Although I was a staunch critic of the project, and am still quite skeptical of its benefits...” In this same mass email, Ken Reid stooped to a new low. After having betrayed his friends in the Opt Out group, whom he worked with for months to educate the public before he flipped to vote Loudoun into Metro, Ken is now using nonsensical claims that…
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says the project is moving into the next phase.
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Monday, July 16, 2012
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officially kicked off the beginning of Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project by opening the process for selecting a design-build contractor for the project. The beginning of Phase 2 marks an important milestone for the project to extend to the Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County, MWAA announced on Friday. MWAA has issued a Request for Qualifications Information in order to solicit information from potential bidders for the 11.5-mile project that will extend from Wiehle Avenue in Reston west to Dulles Airport, ending at Route 772 in eastern Loudoun County. The RFQI has been posted on the Airports Authority website and can be found here. “We are grateful to our project partners …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A reader discusses a recent conversation with Supervisor Ken Reid regarding Metro and why he wasn't impressed.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Dear Editor, A week prior to the Board of Supervisors' Metro vote, I called Supervisor Ken Reid to ask him where he stood. While not verbatim, I think I am really close. Ken Reid's response: "John, I know this project has always been a piece of crap, and it still is, but the tax district has legs". In other words, he knew something was a major waste of tax dollars, but he was going to vote for it anyways. I was dumbstruck. How does that work? I asked how he could possibly say that the tax district had "legs", as most landowners couldn't possibly know about it yet (Supervisor Williams only had devised it two weeks prior). Ken then regaled me with a story Joe May once shared with him, on how one day he opened the mail and found out he …
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
After contentious four months, a divided board stays with the project.
With more eyes on Loudoun County than likely have ever been on it, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 on Tuesday to continue participating with the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which will extend the now-under-construction Silver Line from Wiehle Avenue in Reston to Route 772 in Ashburn. “Well the day has finally come for this board to make the decision about the future of Loudoun County,” County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) said as the vote approached. “This will help our employers reach our employees regionally.” York and Supervisors Ken Reid (R-Leesburg), Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn), Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) and Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) voted in support, while Supervisors Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian), Geary Higgins…
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Town Council candidate Ann Robinson submitted an open letter to the Town Council regarding VRT funding should Loudoun Opt-In for Rail.
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Honorable Mayor and Council Members: In spite of last Friday evening's dramatic thunderstorm, several neighbors showed up at my door to passionately discuss bus service in Leesburg. Slowly the word is getting around to even those who do not have Internet, that Virginia Regional Transit funding is at risk if an Opt-In for Rail decision is affirmed next week by the County Board of Supervisors. (I have not heard any hopeful indication, as yet, that a Metro Transit system which includes comprehensive bus service would be a part of the overall Metro project.) And, I am writing to urge you: 1) to forcefully lobby the Board of Supervisors to continue its past financial support to VRT, and 2) to include in Leesburg's future budget deliberations…
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
After spending hours on the issue, the Town Council voted 5 to 2 to send a letter of support to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.
The Town Council voted 5 to 2 Tuesday night to forward a resolution to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in support of bringing Rail to Loudoun County. It took about three hours until council members could make a final decision. Mayor Kristen Umstattd and Councilman Tom Dunn were opposed. Dunn said that the project costs too much and that he wouldn’t support it if it meant raising the taxpayer's dollar. He suggested that the resolution be deferred indefinitely and said he wasn’t sure why the town was getting involved with the issue anyway. That motion failed as did another one made by Councilwoman Katie Hammler that would have postponed the council’s decision until June 26. “I find this unfortunate. About 75 percent of the people in …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
A decision is expected to be made Tuesday night as to whether or not they should show support before a July 4 decision is made.
The Leesburg Town Council discussed Metrorail Monday night and whether to forward a resolution to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in support of bringing it to Loudoun County. The county's board must decide by July 4 if the county will participate in the project. If Loudoun participates, stations will be constructed at Route 606 and 772, increasing development options in those areas. Councilman Marty Martinez said that he has been using the Metro and bus system for a number of years and would support bringing the project to Loudoun. “I would love to walk to Battlefield Parkway, get on a bus and catch Metro in Ashburn rather than drive,” Martinez said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity here. This is something that we really …
Monday, June 4, 2012
A reader discusses how the panic and paranoia regarding the future of Metro to Loudoun is overplayed.
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Monday, June 4, 2012
It's funny reading all the panic and paranoia from opponents of Metro when it comes to connecting us with the city and "urban" people. Funny, that is, in the absurdity of it all. They apparently believe that the Metro will lead Loudoun down the road to rampant crime and poverty. Their misguided views fly in the face of facts. For instance, despite having eleven Metro stations and a population density more than thirteen times greater than Loudoun's, Arlington County has not had a single homicide in well over two years. Can we say as much? Here's an example from abroad: In Bogota, Colombia, immediately following the installation of TransMilenio, their own controversial public transit project, violent crime dropped by fifty percent (not to …
Thursday, May 31, 2012
A reader feels there is cause to doubt that enough attention has been given to very basic considerations.
- OPINION
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Thursday, May 31, 2012
The Selling of Metro The hard battle to inform the public on the costs and risks of Metro to Loudoun is being fought. In this complicated mix of opinions and messages there is cause to doubt that enough attention has been given to very basic considerations. At the top of that list is the question of whether or not a heavy rail commuter line that is a match for the transit needs of the Washington Metropolitan area is also a fit for shuttling a few hundred passengers a day back and forth to catch a flight out of Dulles Airport. Here in Loudoun there is a massive effort to sell the train as a plus to Loudoun. Many supposed benefits have already been refuted yet they are still called benefits. One example is that there will be a financial …
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
The argument continues on why Rail to Loudoun is good.
- OPINION
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Emotions, politics, and stubborn pride are getting ahead of public interest in the debate over the Silver Line. The rail makes economic sense as we’ve read time and time again; no, Loudoun won’t collapse without it, but we won’t go anywhere either. We’ll be a bedroom community for a long time while the rest of Northern Virginia enjoys economic growth. The (exaggerated) arguments leveled against the project due to its costs often completely ignore the expected benefit and show a complete lack of understanding of infrastructure investment. They also go on about how much tolls will rise while omitting the fact that tolls will rise with or without Loudoun participating in rail. The only thing that will change is whether or not we have an …
Peggy Coleman
10:21 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Leesburg Supervisor Ken Reid reacted to the majority of his constituents' wishes by voting in favor of Metro into Loudoun. Ken did what elected officials are supposed to do - assess the facts, collaborate with colleagues, listen to constituents and vote in support of their best interests. Ken has and will continue to endure personal attacks and political threats because of this vote. However, he … more ›