Dear Rosslyn Neighbors,

Tonight I will be attending a meeting on the Georgetown-Rosslyn Gondola Feasibility Study. We will be discussing the project progress to date, an updated project schedule, preliminary summary of findings to date including a "fatal flaw analysis", and announcing the next public meeting.

If you have feedback you would like me to relay or questions you would like answered please let me know. For what it's worth here are my initial thoughts:

The way this project has been explained as a transportation based infrastructure. It would originate in the Rosslyn metro and end somewhere on the left side of Key Bridge. I think this is ill conceived for a few reasons. First, logistically this is not a faster alternative form of transportation. You could walk, take the Connector/Guts Bus/Metro Bus etc and it would likely be faster than entering the metro area, waiting for your gondola to fill, actually cross, and then walk towards the commercial side of Key Bridge.

In the end this would be an entertainment attraction. The developer's response to the increased traffic to the area is that having it in a Metro stop will increase metro usage to the gondola. This is not a helpful solution for a few reasons 1) only the Rosslyn side has a metro 2) the metro is in constant disarray and uber is currently just as cheap 3) if this ends up being an entertainment based attraction people will be driving in from out of the area and there will be no place for them to park on both the Rosslyn or Georgetown side 4) this would cause increased car traffic on both Key Bridge and I-66.

Please provide feedback before 5pm today. I will report back soon.

Nicole

Hello,

I agree with everything you say.

When people can walk across the bridge in less than 10 mn why do they need a gondola? As you say, by the time they buy a ticket, wait for the gondola, take the short ride, get off, and figure out how to get out, they would have walked over the bridge 5 times over.

For residents in Rossslyn and in Georgetown, the gondola would infringe on the visual and physical space over the river.

It appears to me to be a way for someone to make money constructing and operating something that serves no purpose and degrades our neighborhood.

To be blunt, it is a stupid idea.

Jeanne Damlamian

I agree. Also, if the gondola is a tourist attraction, will it only run during the summer? It seems like the operating costs would be too high to run it in the winter. It doesn't sound like an economically responsible decision.

Rather than use the funds to erect a gondola from Arlington to Georgetown, build a pedestrian bridge for walkers and bicyclers from the Arlington side of the river across the Potomac to a location in Georgetown on the river.

Thank your bringing this matter to our attention Nicole, and for everyone's comments. I completely agree with all that has been said. It's a bad idea.

All -

Thank you for your feedback. The next public meeting will be November 3rd at 6pm at the Georgetown Theater (1351 Wisconsin Ave NW) where the feasibility study will be released. It will identify and lay out the demand, financial, regulatory, design and real estate considerations of the project. You can RSVP here.