I thought about calling this article, "penny wise and pound foolish," because that's exactly what this cheapskate, half-assed approach to Metro in Tysons is all about. So, let's see now, Metro in Tysons is not going to: a) be underground; b) have pedestrian bridges so that people can actually reach the stations across busy, dangerous roads; c) have sufficient rail cars on the line; d) even have freakin' ESCALATORS at some stations (apparently, they're going to just have stairs and elevators, and not even enough of the latter to serve people with disablities). Nice.So this is the great plan - pushed by Frank Wolf (R-10), among others - to reshape Tysons Corner into a thriving, urban downtown? This is the brilliant way we're going to move Virginians to Dulles Airport, and Northern Virginia into the 21st Century? By going el cheapo on Metro, to the point that it's an aesthetic and functional monstrosity? By being "penny wise and pound foolish," as Dana Kauffman, a member of the Metro Board and a Fairfax County Supervisor, asserted? By not taking into account, as Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly pointed out, "the larger benefits of having rail below ground?"
Maybe it's just how I was taught growing up, but with regards to Tysons in Metro, I say "do it right or don't do it at all." Frankly, I'd rather spend $2 billion or $3 billion somewhere else, or not spend it at all, than build a totally screwed up, inaccessible, aesthetically hideous, yet still costly Metro line to Tysons. And meanwhile, of course, we've got our wonderful Virginia House Republicans resisting any tax increase to do the job right. Hey, maybe we should start calling these people - the anti-tax, flat-earth extremists who oppose Tim Kaine's plan to increase funding and spending on transportation in Virginia - the "pound foolish Republicans," because that's exactly what they are. Dumb. Dumber. Dumberest.