| It's not gonna happen now that the word is spreading about how much it will cost us all. |
I think much of the shock and disbelief being expressed by DC residents and electeds stems from the fact that most of this crowd have never spent time in NOVA other than a Silver Line trip to IAD. There is a tremendously wealthy, highly educated, law abiding, and yes, diverse population in NOVA that any sports team owner salivate over. The traffic hurdles are real, but with funding and planning they can be addressed. |
How? Route 1 is already a nightmare and it cannot be widened. GW Parkway is not going to be altered for this. There are no other car/bus routes into the area. Metro is close to the end of the line, and it is just blue/yellow, meaning anyone who has to transfer has to add at least a 1/2 hour each way to their trip. And that is for metro. if you are driving, as the person up thread noted, it is at least a half hour, and on a weeknight, significantly more to cross a bridge to get to Potomac Yards. And sure there is all sorts of wealth and potential interest in Fairfax, Ashburn, Leesburg, Prince William - exactly how are all those people going to get to a Potomac Yard arena by game time on a weekday? I mean even weekend car traffic is bad in that area so instead of a 3 hour or so time committment to go to a game, it is more like 4 hours and on a bad traffic day even more. For most people, that simply won't be worth it. |
You may want to acknowledge that the proposed new location is no better for residents in Reston or Great Falls. Fact is that the only beneficiaries of this move would be Alexandria residents. No one else, whether in NoVA, DC, or MD. |
The GW south from spout run to either the airport to RT1 or just straight to RT1 isn't bad right now. If the teams suck and attendance is low, it won't be too bad- probably no worse than going into the city. Parking is going to be the problem. If the city caps it like Mayor Wilson promised, people just won't go. |
Please name me a traffic problem that has been solved in the DMV in the last 30 years. Yes, I expect that Ted and a few politicians will hold at some point a press conference announcing "a well thought out plan" to resolve the traffic issues. My reply will be BS! |
And the likelihood that the NoVa rich will take the Metro to Potomac Yards is none. NoVa, for all its pluses and minuses (and there are both), is a car based economy. |
+1 Given the physical constraints of this location it’s impossible to fix. The best you’ll get is parking offsite with a shuttle. The question is: how many people are really going to put up with that extra hassle. |
First, the location just by its nature, is literally a 1/2 hour more to drive or metro EACH WAY from just about every location in the region. That is without traffic or any other issues. Second, car traffic on Route 1 is already a nightmare to get through Crystal City to Potomac Yards. To suggest it "isn't bad right now" - you mean today on a Friday before Christmas? Ya, I bet it isn't bad this moment. Choose any weekday between 4 and 7 and it is bad. Choose a day when people are in a crush to get to DCA or if there is a car accident in the DCA accesses, and it is really bad. If parking is capped, that means it will be like $50 per car - wheee! If parking is capped, that just means more people using the metro, which is great, but who is paying the $250+ million to retrofit the metro station? And how do you make it more accessible so there aren't thousands of people queued up to get to the trains? It is closer to the end of the line than the middle, like Gallery Place, so you don't have the easy dispersal of thousands of people at the end of an event like you do downtown. That alone will add even more time, and god forbid Metro is having an issue, then you have thousands of people stuck at Potomac Yards forced to get Ubers or Taxis and clog up the same roads that are already clogged. |
A shuttle will add at least another 20 minutes to the half-hour minimum each way I described below. |
Because of people like you the traffic problem around Cap One Arena was just solved, that’s for sure. |
I guess all the investors and Alexandria City analysts have no idea what they are talking about. How could they miss that no one in MD, DC, or NoVA will go to Alexandria for a game? Guess next time they should ask anonymous forum posters from MD what they think will happen. In reality, Arlington and Alexandria are full of parked cars with DC and MD plates regardless of traffic concerns. Even Wizards fans from La Plata will be driving in. |
This is par for the course in DC. Over educated residents with no actual experience in the real world lecturing a tech and sports titan about business. Same thing happened when over 100 small businesses on Connecticut Ave wrote the mayor in opposition to the bike lane project only to be drowned out by that screams of a dozen or so socialists and nonprofit workers who apparently are also closeted MBAs. These people have no self awareness. |
AOL and the Wizards? He's great at selling crappy products. Have you been to his sports book lately? It's flat out depressing. The one saving grace of Ted owned teams moving is that attendance is so low that traffic won't be impacted too much. Thank god Ovi will be retired and the last of the bandwagon fans will be on their way out by the time it opens |
How many of those people are trying to get to a single location at the exact same time during Rush Hour? No one is saying there isn't cross river commerce, of course there is. But let's be real in this discussion about how and when people are trying to get to Potomac Yard for a game or concert. |