Fairfax Planners are Set To Redesign the Image of Tysons Corner

The Tysons Corner Urban Center Draft Plan is out detailing how Fairfax planners will transform the image of Tysons Corner.

The draft, dated January 14, 2010, is projecting a better Tysons “in which people are engaged in their surroundings and a place where people want to be.” Planners call for the creation of a community that could include 200,000 jobs and 100,000 residents and a job-housing balance of about 4 jobs per household.

The plan also centers around the restoration or enhancement of public transportation, open spaces and trails and green buildings.  The transportation system will especially be redesigned to accommodate circulator routes, community shuttles, and feeder bus service. The design will likely improve bicycle routes and connections as well. Almost half of the recommendations for Tysons will be located within half a mile of the Metro.

Fairfax planners have a detailed draft on how to improve transportation in the area
How to improve transportation. The superblock street network will be transformed into a system of smaller connected streets for an efficient traffic flow.

“Streets should become “complete streets” designed to create a sense of place and promote walking,” the draft reveals.

There will be a Circulator System that allows quick and inexpensive transportation for trips within Tysons.  A great addition to that would be the neighborhood feeder bus network that will connect surrounding communities to Tysons.

Plans of constructing at least two new elementary schools are also high on the agenda: one in the North Central district along with the proposed eight to ten acre park and another one in the East Side district. There were even talks of expanding the existing Westgate Elementary School.

New school constructions will benefit the community especially with the additional 890 elementary students by 2050.

The plans may be ambitious but the county is giving itself forty years to implement new strategies. In sum, Fairfax planners outlines their implementation strategy including:

• Detailed planning that links infrastructure provision with development
• Creation of an implementation entity
• Establishment of a funding strategy for public infrastructure
• Revision of the regulatory framework
• Formation of public-private partnerships