Poll: Seven Corners Residents (Arlington, Williamsburg: construction, taxes, to live)

[tysonsengineer]

For RESIDENTS of seven corners, meaning those who live within 3 miles of seven corners (East Falls Church/Baileys). Changing Seven corners into a DuPont circle like roundabout (with route 50 remaining a through tunnel), would you be;

• All about it
• Completely against it
• Don't care never use it

[cdmurphy]

I do not currently live there, but lived within that radius for several years, and I rarely if ever actually went through the Seven Corners intersection. That's what the side roads are for. The way people drive around there, there is NO WAY that I would go through it as a roundabout.

[Darkseid]

I used to live there as well, but I still pass through there often and I think the roundabout is a great idea. It would help make the current nightmare into a pedestrian friendly location and finally "connect" all of the corners. As it is today, there is no way to walk from one corner to another without taking your life into your own hands. Count me as "all about it"

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

The way people drive around there, there is NO WAY that I would go through it as a roundabout.

I agree. I would be able to drive using a roundabout just fine as I am from Massachusetts, the land of rotaries. But others? Um -- not so much.

But I am outside of your designated 3 mile radius (at roughly 6 miles away).

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by OrangeFish

I agree. I would be able to drive using a roundabout just fine as I am from Massachusetts, the land of rotaries. But others? Um -- not so much.

But I am outside of your designated 3 mile radius (at roughly 6 miles away).

I'd be in favor if there were no lines, signs or signals. How entertaining would that be to watch?

[Caladium]

Roundabouts are ok, but I don't really think having one there is worth the expense and general PITA of tearing up a major intersection. The people I know who live in the area have no problem driving there--the intersection is a little intimidating the first time you see it but you quickly learn how to navigate it. Plus, as cdmurpy pointed out, it's no big deal to use the side streets.

[Carlingtonian]

We live not far from there; I can get there in 10 minutes and routinely go to the Homme Depot there.

I would prefer to see it left as-is. Getting to Route 50 or Route 7 is easy if you go via other roads, which is what we do. Even the actual Seven Corners intersection is not that bad on a weekend morning, if you pay attention and have two brain cells.

And the traffic interruption and confusion this proposal would entail would be awful.

I see this as a solution in search of a problem.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Roundabouts are ok, but I don't really think having one there is worth the expense and general PITA of tearing up a major intersection. The people I know who live in the area have no problem driving there--the intersection is a little intimidating the first time you see it but you quickly learn how to navigate it. Plus, as cdmurpy pointed out, it's no big deal to use the side streets.

7corners is a cluster F at rush hour, the people can drive it fine, its the traffic that occurs because of the completely unorganized intersection and timing chaos that is the problem. Very little construction would actually be necessary to create a dupont circle system as the Route 50 tunnel superstructure is existing.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

7corners is a cluster F at rush hour, the people can drive it fine, its the traffic that occurs because of the completely unorganized intersection and timing chaos that is the problem. Very little construction would actually be necessary to create a dupont circle system as the Route 50 tunnel superstructure is existing.

I don't doubt that it's as you describe, but I do wonder if making it a circle would solve the problem, which I would suspect is the sheer volume of cars, along with the multiple intersections on Route 50. It's been a while since I've driven around a DC circle, other than the one on Western Ave./Mass. Ave NW, but only on the weekend.

Now be honest: Are you really interested in mitigating vehicle congestion? Or are you wanting a circle so you can turn it into a mixed-use hipster nirvana? Because urbanists normaly view auto congestion as the bitter pill drivers must swallow in order to give up our profligate roadbound ways and see the light of biking/walking/transit-ing everywhere! (I mixed several metaphors there, but it's early.)

[tysonsengineer]

Seven corners issues are PURELY the idiotic design of the overpasses and poor traffic light timing on Route 50 (not associated with the corner itself). The change to the intersection itself would have no impact on Route 50 where most of the traffic is, as this again is in a through tunnel. What this would do is allow people not trying to access route 50 to avoid getting caught up in bad light timing.

Of course the change to a turnaround would be in association with new development, which based on the residents meeting workshop last month is something that a majority of the residents want. I am not sure why you are always against development for the sake of keeping things the same too. More importantly, pedestrian pathways will make residents feel more comfortable walking. From 7 corners it is only about a 1 mile bike ride to EFC, but no one from the other side of 7 corners would ever dare cross that mess without a car.

You can mitigate traffic and have it paid for without taxes by incorporating it into redevelopment. Thats the point. Commuters are completely unaffected as they are all on Route 50 towards 495. Everyone else would see timing improvements. Just as your haven Arlington has shown, road widenings are not the only way to decrease traffic congestion. Also note that the Williamsburg region of EFC/Arlington has already gotten approval to decrease the width of the road from 4 lanes to 2 lanes, with traffic models showing NO impact for congestion but massive improvements to the safety of its residents.

Change is just a natural correction to the cheapo design that was originally incorporated, it is a progression in how we use the land, not something to be weary of in every instance especially if the current condition is something out of the imagination of a sadistic traffic engineer