An Analysis of WMATA's Proposed Bus Garage on Cinder Bed Road

Tom­­­orrow the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) proposal to build a bus garage on Cinder Bed Road in Lorton (see map) on property owned by Fairfax County.

At first glance the site seems to have a lot going for it. Jeff McKay, the Lee District supervisor, in whose district the garage would sit, has led the push to bring the 160-bus garage to the location. McKay has indicated that the price is certainly right, that the land is zoned industrial and that the site is CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)-ready. A small percentage of the present WMATA fleet is already running on the environmentally-friendly CNG and the hope is that that number will grow. The fact that the Cinder Bed Road site could accommodate that potential growth is a mark in its favor.

However, the site has a number of problems. Though it is zoned as an industrial area, someone visiting the site need merely turn eastward and they will see hundreds of homes. Three different homeowners groups have opposed the building of the garage since it was first announced two summers ago. Those residents live in Mount Vernon District, not Lee District, and their supervisor, Gerry Hyland, has been outspoken in his criticism of the site.

The citizens who live near the proposed site are concerned about air and noise pollution. The studies that have been done by WMATA and Fairfax County regarding air, noise and environmental impacts are less than encouraging.

When a WMATA attorney was asked about the possibility of environment hazards at the February 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, his response, tellingly, was less than reassuring. He told the board that proper safety measures will be put in place.

At the other end of Cinder Bed Road are a number of other industrial venues including bus garages for Fairfax County Public Schools and Fairfax Connector, in addition to structures for VDOT and Fairfax County Water Authority, and the road has its share of wear and tear. One simply needs to drive on that stretch of Cinder Bed Road and note that the road is rife with fissures and potholes. One shudders at what buses 71 per hour (according to WMATA’s own peak-hour projections) would do to this road.

Of the other roads that would be affected by a new bus garage, Cinder Bed Road may be in the best shape to handle more traffic.

In order to get to Fairfax County Parkway buses will have to drive down Cinder Bed and out to Backlick Road. The intersection of Backlick Road and Cinder Bed Road once had a STOP sign. No more. It has been knocked over so many times by heavy vehicle traffic that the county has stopped replacing it.

But the crux of the issue regarding traffic is where Backlick Road meets Fairfax County Parkway. The intersection is already congested. The guardrail that protects traffic coming from Fairfax County Parkway onto Backlick has been hit so many times it’s nearly been uprooted (see photos). Traffic analysts have graded this intersection an “F” – the lowest possible grade – in terms of congestion. 

Not coincidentally, WMATA buses will have to use Cinder Bed Road to access Fairfax County Road. They could conceivably use Newington Road as an alternate route, but that street goes directly through a residential area and WMATA has pledged not to utilize it. It should be noted that Fairfax County Public Schools made a similar vow, but several residents have reported seeing FCPS buses on the road without repercussion.

The Cinder Bed Road site will replace the WMATA site that is currently housed at Royal Street in Alexandria. That location services routes in Alexandria and Arlington, as would a potential Cinder Bed Road garage. WMATA has said once routes are expanded throughout Fairfax County the Cinder Bed Road site would become more of a central location. They haven’t, however, given a timetable on when that route expansion would be.

Both McKay and Catherine Hudgins, the Hunter Mill District Supervisor, sit on the WMATA Board of Directors. Hudgins, incidentally, was named Chairman of the WMATA Board earlier this year. McKay has told Lorton Patch he is not compensated for being on the board, but some see a conflict of interest.

At the February 22 Board of Supervisors meeting, McKay expressed concern that if the site does not become the home of WMATA, it could become home to “all manner of illegal activity.” This seems a bit extreme and the options for the site can’t possibly be that binary. There is a middle ground between selling the land to WMATA and selling it to criminals. It’s the county’s responsibility to assure as much.

On land use issues such as this it has been tradition for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to follow the advice of the district representatives in which the issue is located. As mentioned above, though the proposed WMATA site is in Lee District, those most affected are in Mount Vernon.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted in favor of WMATA’s proposal with the Lee District member, James Migliaccio, voting in favor and the Mount Vernon member, Earl Flanagan voting against.