This afternoon the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU took up the topic of the Potomac bridge project.  (click here to listen) In attendance were Bob Buchanan, a developer and member of the 2030 group, one of the main backers of the bridge and Stewart Schwartz from our partner organization Coalition for Smarter Growth. Stewart revealed the lunacy of this project point by point and highlighted the immense personal financial stake Mr. Buchanan and his development partners have in building the sprawl that would come from this boondoggle. 

Right out of the gate, Mr. Buchanan casually brushed aside concerns about the sprawl and detriment to established communities and again cited a poll that has been discredited in the media. The 2030 group had a polling firm call up 800 residents and ask them if the bridge is a good idea - no budget figure, no location - as you might imagine, most traffic weary residents said yes. Stewart Schwartz rightly called the poll's validity into question.  What followed in the time remaining was a chorus of listeners (one being MoCo Council President Berliner who called in) on both sides of the river calling this project into question for its negative impact on communities, water, habitat, agriculture and its efficacy as a traffic solution in the first place. Our friends across the River at Piedmont Environmental Council have prepared a great list of 8 myths used to sell this zombie project yet again.  For those wondering why this project is called the "zombie" bridge and why it gets re-animated so often, this is a great summary. 

The bridge segment today was cut a bit short so the show could properly honor dearly departed DC broadcaster Jim Vance. There is much more discussion to be had  and much, much more work to do. Join us won't you?

Read on for our favorite tweets and observations about the Kojo Show today:

Update (8/28): What are the proposed routes for the highway? There are a whole, whole lot of them:

Update: 
7/19 saw a meeting of the Transportation Planning Board (TBP) of the regional Council of Governments. One of the 10 items being considered for study between now and December when the board will make decisions based on said studies is ----yes --- a re-re-re-study of the Potomac Bridge. Along with our partner Stewart Schwartz from Coalition for Smarter Growth, our own ED Caroline Taylor was there to provide testimony cautioning the board to not look at transportation in a vacuum - this project would impact land use, the Ag Reserve and particularly water resources - the federally designated Piedmont Sole Source Aquifer and the fact that the proposed connection point would be just upstream from the WSSC intake. 

Board member and MoCo Councilmember Elrich attempted to float an amendment to remove the Bridge from the list of other reasonable projects the Board was voting to study - many of them transit oriented and proven to reduce gridlock. The amendment failed to get enough votes, the Bridge will be studied, for the 4th time. To be fair, a number of votes in favor of yet another bridge study are not in favor of the bridge being built. 

The bottom line:  The TBP has only until December to study and report on all of these 10 projects at which time they will vote to move ahead with some of them. We are concerned that there is not enough time to make this a comprehensive study, the kind of solid investigation that has shown time and again that this bridge will not objectively ease, and may even exacerbate current gridlock. See the map below for all the different routes that have been studied over the years. 

There is much work to do on this, we give thanks to those who have written in comments so far. Please sharpen your pencils, stay tuned and if you have not already done so- please become a member of MCA with your tax deductible donation.
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