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From YouTube: Press Briefing: Arlington County Manager's Recommendations for Future Transit Station Construction
Description
Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan and Transportation Director Dennis Leach presented the Manager's recommendations for future development of transit stations along Columbia Pike and other major corridors throughout Arlington. May 6 2014. http://news.arlingtonva.us/releases/arlington-county-cuts-costs-improves-design-of-columbia-pike-transit-stations-project
http://news.arlingtonva.us/releases/statement-from-jay-fisette-chair-of-the-arlington-county-board
A
B
A
All
for
coming,
I
appreciate
you
taking
the
time
this
afternoon
to
come
and
to
listen
to
what
we
have
to
say.
Last
year,
I
put
on
hold
the
building
of
the
transit
stations
along
Columbia
Pike.
I
did
so
because
the
Walter
Reed
prototype
for
those
stations
costs
too
much
took
too
long
to
build
and
had
some
design
problems
that
we
needed
to
fix.
A
This
is
a
vital
transit
project
for
us.
It'll
encourage
bus
and
eventually
streetcar
ridership
along
the
pike.
These
stations
will
help
achieve
our
community's
vision
for
transforming
Columbia
Pike
from
a
car
centric
thoroughfare
with
strip
malls
to
the
next
great
main
street,
and
it
must
be
done
right.
A
I
said
we
would
not
move
forward
with
this
very
important
transit
project
until
we
had
identified
what
went
wrong
with
the
prototype
and
until
I
was
satisfied
that
we
could
build
the
remaining
23
stations
better,
faster
and
cheaper
in
cooperation
with
LaMotta
who
manage
the
construction
of
the
prototype.
We
launch
the
third
party
review
of
the
project
management
and
conducted
a
financial
review.
Our
goal
was
accountability
to
pinpoint
what
went
wrong
in
the
project
management
on
the
super.
A
A
A
Our
new
design
firm,
has
produced
a
kit
of
parts,
a
transit
station
with
a
price
tag,
far
below
the
Walter
Reed
prototype
and
far
below
the
original
20.8
million
budgeted
for
24
stations
along
Columbia
Pike
because
of
their
modular
design.
These
stations
can
be
scaled
up
to
accommodate
more
writers
as
demand
increases
and
will
cost
less
to
maintain.
A
We
will
retain
elements
of
the
prototype
that
writers
told
us
they
wanted
and
needed,
such
as
good
lighting
and
real-time
arrival
information.
They
remain
architectural
e,
true
to
the
original
concept.
They
are
aesthetically
pleasing
and
enhance
our
efforts
to
create
a
sense
of
place
as
we
transform
the
pike
into
a
more
modern
oriented,
Main
Street,
the
more
vibrant
quarter
that
will
better
serve
all
who
live,
work
and
visit
the
pike.
Their
amenities
and
designs
will
attract
more
riders
to
bus
and
later
streetcar.
A
We
did
not
stop
at
producing
a
better
design,
we've
also
reengineered
our
project
management
and
going
forward.
We
will
directly
manage
this
project
rather
than
hiring
war
Mata
to
do
it
back
when
we
first
plan
to
upgrade
the
bus
stops
along
the
pike,
it
was
common
for
us
to
use,
as
it
was
brother
jurisdictions,
to
use
metro
to
build
these
larger
transit
infrastructure
projects.
A
A
The
financial
and
program
management
review
of
the
superstar
prototype
has
not
been
finalized.
We
already
know
even
before
receiving
the
final
reports.
Several
factors
contributed
to
the
delays
and
the
errors.
Our
community
design
process
produced
a
design
that
was
to
customized
and
too
costly.
It
took
years
to
get
the
design
approved
by
V
dot,
which
owned
the
pike.
At
that
time,
once
V
dot
approved
the
design,
we
had
our
own
internal,
permitting
delays
and
once
the
construction
began,
omata,
the
project
management
was
not
able
to
be
up
to
par
on
this
project.
A
The
complexity
of
this
project
is
spanned.
Nearly
a
decade
and
involve
three
entities-
the
County
War,
Mata
and
vida-
this
has
made
it
difficult
for
consultants
to
reconstruct
what
exactly
happened.
The
consultants
are
working
to
finalize
these
important
reports
and
I
hope
to
report
back
to
the
board
and
the
public
on
these
findings
once
they
are
complete.
A
I
believe
that
the
thoroughness
of
this
effort
is
evidence
of
just
how
seriously
we
take
our
seward
stewardship
of
taxpayer
dollars.
This
is
an
extraordinary
effort
to
address
real
concerns
about
the
important
infrastructure
investment
that
costs
too
much
and
failed
to
deliver
all
that
it
had
promised.
This
project
is
not
representative
of
how
Arlington
manages
infrastructure
projects.
We
are
proud
of
our
track
record.
A
A
We
have
improvements,
the
rosslyn
metro
station
elevator,
and
we
have
improvements
right
here
in
this
arlington
county
arlington
mill,
community
center
we
came
in
on
budget
and
many
projects
have
been
very
very
successfully
completed.
Time
and
again.
Arlington
voters
have
supported
the
county's
capital
program
by
giving
their
overwhelming
to
support
to
the
bond
measures
of
Finance
these
programs.
We
are
accountable
to
these
voters
and
I
personally
want
to
commit
to
them
that
these
projects
are
and
will
be,
skillfully
managed.
B
B
B
B
Thirty-Eight
percent
was
federal
funding.
Twenty-Four
percent
with
state
funding,
thirty-three
percent
was
coming
from
our
dedicated
transportation
capital
fund,
which
is
the
commercial
and
industrial
real
estate
tax,
which
can
only
be
used
for
transportation
purposes
and
1
million
dollars
or
five
percent
of
the
program
total
was
from
local
geo
bonds.
B
The
proposal
we
have
a
Walter
Reed,
stop
that
we've
evaluated
t
three
more
locations
to
go.
The
proposed
program
is
priced
at
12.4
million
dollars
and
it
continues
to
funded
by
a
share
of
different
funding
sources,
with
the
federal
share
of
being
fifty
two
percent.
The
state
share
being
fourteen
percent
local
transportation
capital
fund
at
twenty
eight
percent
and
the
geo
bond,
or
the
general
obligation
bond
at
six
percent.
B
Want
to
touch
on
something
the
manager
mentioned.
It
really
ties
back
to
the
broader
vision
of
what
we're
trying
to
achieve
on
columbia.
Pike.
This
facility
is
part
of
it.
When
you
look
out
the
window
at
the
construction
on
Columbia
Pike
is
it's
to
create
an
improved
walkable
transit-oriented
Main
Street,
that
is
the
community
center,
or
that
is
the
community
vision
with
neighborhoods,
including
commercials
linked
by
enhanced
transit
and
creating
a
very
walkable
to
the
left,
was
not
very
long
ago.
B
B
B
B
B
So
the
first
super
soft
open,
almost
a
decade
later,
have
to
do
better.
But
I
think
this
notion
that
transportation
and
land
use
go
hand
in
hand
is
part
of
what
has
made
arlington
successful
and
on
the
on
Columbia
Pike.
We
have
been
successful
in
building
transit
ridership
in
fiscal
2004.
When
we
launched
the
pie,
cry
and
restructure
petroglyphs
and
introduced
art,
we
were
carrying
10,000
equal.
B
B
B
Boardings
the
day
when
you
get
up
over
42,
it
requires
a
little
bit
more
amenity
require
some
shelter
bench
trash
receptacle,
and
then
you
can
actually
see
the
other
end
of
the
spectrum
with
our
sterlington
transit
center,
where
we've
created
an
intermodal
transfer
center
with
bathrooms,
a
commuter
store
place
to
wait
inside
in
a
climate-controlled
environment.
What
we
have
on
columbia
pike
is
something
in
between.
We
have
very
high
ridership.
B
We
can
have
15
people
waiting
for
transit
in
the
morning
and
afternoon
and
that
calls
for
a
higher
level
and
some
of
those
are
listed
here.
Real
time.
Information
is
not
a
nice
to
have
what
our
writers
tell
us
is
essential.
They
really
want
that's
part
of
the
service
package.
Good
cover
a
comfortable
place
to
wait.
B
B
The
community
feedback,
our
goal
was
to
live,
look
had
to
say
about
the
prototype
and
in
turn,
to
inform
the
design
review,
and
it
was
important
to
survey
actual
users
and
residents
and
along
the
pike
we
had
732
completed
surveys
in
English
and
Spanish
fives.
We
held
five
stakeholder
work
groups
and
we
also
reviewed
every
email
that
came
into
the
county
on
the
prototype.
B
B
And
yes,
we
did
hear
a
number
of
comments
that
the
boss
were
too
high
for
the
prototype
and
we
agree
next
to
the
design
review.
Also
very
extensive.
We
review
the
community
feedback.
There
was
a
detailed
analysis
of
the
prototype
design
and
function,
so
both
the
two
all
the
technical
drawings,
the
specifications,
the
field
performance.
B
We
had
an
interdepartmental
work
group
that
focused
on
the
redesign
with
a
consultant
consultant
team,
came
up
with
multiple
designs
to
look
at
a
meeting
the
community
objectives,
and
we
also
looked
at
not
just
the
initial
cost,
but
actually
what
is
the
life
cycle
cost?
Because
these
are
intended
to
be
investments
for
the
next.
B
So,
what's
changed,
we've
improved
with
created
better
canopy
coverage
by
the
top
of
a
list
of
things
that
people
want
to
improve
improve
pedestrian
circulation.
These
are
actually
on
the
sidewalks
of
Columbia
Pike.
So
it's
not
just
people
waiting
for
a
bus,
but
it's
also
people
walking
through
improved
a
DA
accessibility.
B
So
just
to
highlight
some
of
these
features,
the
canopy
has
been
redesigned,
provide
more
coverage
both
from
the
elements
above
and
the
elements
coming
in
at
a
diagonal,
and
we
have
a
windy
day.
We
still
have
real-time
information
displays
and
what
we
describe.
These
are
facilities,
sit
light
on
the
land,
which
means
less
obstruction,
so
clear
flow
for
the
sidewalks
and
now
a
comparison
of
features.
B
The
column
on
the
left
is
the
Walter
Reed
prototype
the
column
in
the
middle
is
the
recommendation
recommending
the
concept.
Canopy
coverage
increases,
we've
changed
the
height
of
the
canopy
and
we
changed
the
angle.
Those
three
things
together
mean
much
greater
weather
protection,
seating
capacity,
the
prototype
had
four
covered
seats
of
three
uncover
the
recommended
standard
size
has
six
covered,
so
we've
increased
the
covered,
seating
and,
probably
more
importantly,
the
peak
periods
on
Columbia
Pike.
The
buses
come
every
two
or
three
minutes,
so
in
many
cases
people
aren't
interested
in
sitting.
B
They
are
just
wanting
to
get
out
of
the
elements
while
they
wait
for
their
boss.
Coming
in
a
few
minutes,
so
stand
cupboard.
Standing
is
a
very
important
and
the
prototype.
We
had
13
positions
that
in
the
recommendation
and
the
recommended
station
we
have
25
other
places
for
people
to
wait,
including
to
handicapped,
accessible
spaces.
B
How
do
we
cut
the
cost
critical
question?
We
simplify
the
design,
it's
modular
flexible
and
can
be
scaled
up
or
down
depending
on
ridership
inside
conditions.
Components
are
standard.
The
original
prototype
had
very
on-site
specific
parts
that
were
not
as
easy
to
replicate
we're
using
less
structure.
There's
less
steel
in
the
revised
design.
We
eliminated
the
ice
melt
system
and
this
program
can
be
scale
if
ridership
continues
to
bottom
line.
These
are
cheaper
to
build
and
cheaper
maintain.
B
B
1004,
the
standard,
sighs
the
standard
side
is
meant
to
be
comparable
with
what
was
billed
as
the
prototype.
Although
it
has
greater
coverage
area,
these
locations
do
require
some
additional
site,
work,
site,
design,
work
and
project
management,
and
that
is
included,
but
the
total
of
this
investment
is
still
under
five
hundred
thousand
dollars.
We
have
also
included
a
substantial
contingency
because
we
are
early
in
the
design
process,
so
there's
a
30-percent
contingency
in
these
numbers
and
as
we
further
design,
we
can
reduce
that
contingency.
B
B
And
what
about
the
program
as
a
whole?
Our
current
estimate
to
complete
the
23
remaining
stations
along
columbia.
Pike
is
12.4
million
dollars
and
I
talked
about
being
able
to
size
these,
depending
on
conditions.
Our
current
recommendation
is
that
nine
locations,
a
standard
size,
eight
locations
in
many
cases
in
the
westbound
direction,
actually
could
use
a
single
because
they're
jedd,
the
ridership,
isn't
the
same
as
the
eastbound.
B
There
are
also
a
couple
locations
that
are
very
constrained
if
you're
familiar
with
cinema
drafthouse,
you
have
a
narrow
sidewalk,
but
our
customers
still
want
weather
protection
and
then
there's
also
a
few
locations
where
there
is
really
high
ridership
and
in
those
cases
they
may
marriage.
Three
or
four
of
these
units
together
and
so
again,
the
overall
estimated
program
cost
with
a
substantial
contingency
is
12.4.
B
B
In
summary,
we've
cut
the
standard
size
station
costs.
Significantly,
we've
reduced
the
program
costs
by
forty
percent.
We
believe
that
we
have
developed
a
better
design
that
shelters
far
more
people,
as
the
manager
mentioned
from
here
on
out.
We
will
be
taking
direct
responsibility
for
the
manic
management
and
execution
of
this
program.