Friday, April 25 2008, 2 PM
Olsson Hall 120

Land-Use and Transportation

Dan Rudge

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

Mike Harris

Abstract

Land-Use and Transportation

Dan Rudge will provide insight into Virginia's land-use tools - access management regulations, subdivision street acceptance requirements and transit design guidelines - and will discuss construction/engineering elements for consideration in land use and transportation planning.

Until the late 1980's, there was little agreement among transportation professionals about how land-use decisions and transportation decisions were interrelated. As a result, urban sprawl worsened and traffic congestion spread into suburbs. Today, transportation and land-use planners are working to coordinate decisions so that land development can be directed to environments and infrastructures ready to support growth. In Virginia, three main tools are used to foster development that do not compromise transportation infrastructure.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

Mike Harris will discuss the federal planning requirements for the project and will highlight considerations related to the design of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.

The Washington, D.C. region is ranked as the second most congested in the nation. Virginia's population is expected to grow 20 to 30 percent by 2025, and with a greater percentage of Virginians living and/or working in the Northern Virginia or Washington, D.C. regions, congestion will worsen in coming years. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project will extend Metrorail service 23 miles from the existing Orange Line in Fairfax County to Loudoun County. The corridor encompasses several activity centers, including Tysons Corner, Reston, Herndon and Dulles International Airport. The project will provide the equivalent capacity of four highway lanes and will carry approximately 91,200 people per day by 2025. A project of this magnitude requires substantial planning and construction/engineering considerations.

Biography

Dan Rudge is the Chief of Planning for DRPT, where he is responsible for DRPT's congestion management programs and strategic planning efforts, including multimodal transportation and land use issues. Dan has 17 years of experience in transportation planning for a variety of organizations. He holds a Master's Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor's Degree in Geography from Virginia Tech.

Mike Harris is the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Coordinator for DRPT, where he provides support to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority project team and serves as DRPT's coordinator for the project, providing state-level support to help advance the project into construction. Mike has 21 years of experience in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) operations, transit, traffic engineering and transportation planning fields. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master's Degree in Urban Systems Engineering from George Mason University.

The Civil Engineering seminar series is open to the University community.
Civil Engineering undergraduate students are especially invited to attend.