To the Editor:
The Potomac Yard property is underutilized and I support efforts to locate a metro rail station at Potomac Yard.
However, the city staff’s selection of a preferred site for the proposed Potomac Yard Metro Station is an attempt to tamp down further consideration of public comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). It would have been more appropriate if the selection of a preferred alternative was made after consideration of public comments. Not surprisingly, the staff decision coincides with an earlier agreement made with the developer regarding the location of the rail station. The announcement also unveiled recent side agreements with the National Park Service for protecting the parkway.
As reported in the Washington Post, the National Park Service would release the easement on approximately 1.71 acres of city property where the station would be located. In exchange the city would transfer 13.56 acres of local parkland near the parkway to the United States. The city would agree to invest $12 million towards improvements to the Mount Vernon Trail and Daingerfield Island.
The DEIS should be amended to include the tentative agreements so citizens can provide reasonable comments on the alternatives included in the DEIS but also on the new proposed deal. During a week we celebrate Earth Day, it is ironic city and federal officials are making announcements and side agreements to basically short-circuit public comments. This has been a controversial project and an important project for the future of Alexandria.
Dave Cavanaugh
Alexandria