You know that old Joni Mitchell song -- they paved paradise & putting up a parking lot? Fairfax County is going to become that if we don't come up with alternatives to more roads as the solution to traffic. The issue isn't just Rt 1 either, look at Route 28 and I66 along with the nearby Braddock and Walney Road interchanges with Rt 28. Traffic is horrible and the 'easy' solution is to widen roads and destroy our county's natural and cultural resources in the process. We need a decent mass transit sytem that utilizes existing rights of way and roads -- buses for one. Maybe trolleys for another. And other counties that benefit, should help with the costs. If they don't do so voluntarily, then Fairfax County should be permitted to charge income tax on commuters, same as other large job-generating centers like NYC. Once you destroy something like a historic cemetry or the beauty and historic resources of Ellanor C. Lawrence Park it's gone forever.

Mass transit sounds good, but its not the answer. Mass transit only works if it is coupled with extremely high density development (ie, high rise apartment buildings). If you want single family houses with yards, you gotta have cars to get to and fro. And if you have cars, you need roads.

Personally, I don't understand how a couple extra traffic lanes is going to adversely impact Woodlawn Plantation. The area in question is a grassy slope. The historic buildings are hundreds of yards away. You can't even see the highway from the house at Woodlawn.

Did anyone notice how the stables group, or even the stables owner was not copied on David Brown's letter? If it hadn't been reported in the Patch, how would they even have known about the Trust's 'generous' offer to sell the land out from under them?

Parts of this letter are absolutely false, despite the congenial tone. There is only talk about an underpass, and highways hasn't mentioned relocating barns or buildings, and has refused to discuss construction staging at all. Nothing to show on paper, nothing presented to the community. Only rumors and putting people off. Not exactly the way to win public trust or support.

I agree with you Cheryl. The bus system we have is good. Seems to work just fine for people on Rt 1 and the parkway, where there are not always apartments but also houses. What we need is more buses and stops and an extension to the yellow line. Why can't Fort Belvoir have a central transit station like the Pentagon? A metro stop and bus center?

George Washington's original gift to make Woodlawn a home for his nephew Lawrence Washington and his bride - was 2,000 acres plus a mill and a distillory. The mill came true, but it took to the 20th century to see the distillory .Both places are at times shown as "this is how it is done". Fort Belvoir, (used to be Camp Humphrey) took over much of the rest of the land for married quarters for enlisted personnel and other military uses. Probably "Mech and Tech" that the Engineer School used for teaching road construction and other subjects. Oh, by the way, the Army Engineers made much of US 1 all the way into Alexandria, almost in fact the WW bridge.