Tysons Is a Tough Egg to Unscramble

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IN THE STUDY OF SUBURBAN SPRAWL, there's always a chicken vs. egg dynamic affecting the intersection of transit and development. And in the case of Tysons Corner, the congested commercial hub of Northern Virginia is an egg that you can't simply "unfry."

That's how Clark Tyler, chairman of Fairfax County's Tysons Land Use Task Force, characterized it to The Post's Amy Gardner, who examines how the busy crossroads' gigantic highways and interchanges are hulking obstacles that will complicate efforts to transform the Tysons area into a pedestrian-friendly area with narrower streets with eventual Metrorail access.

Here's Tyler's full quote:

In a perfect world, yes, I'd love to narrow Route 123 and some of those other things so you don't have to cross eight lanes. ... We can't unfry the egg. But I think we can determine the look, the feel and the convenience of what is coming because of Metro.

But what about the traffic? Route 7 is expected to carry 90,000 cars a day through Tysons by 2030. With that kind of congestion in the cards, Virginia transportation officials will likely remain hesitant to reduce capacity on Tysons' major thoroughfares.

"Path of Diminished Potential" [WaPo]

Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post