Let's imagine you suddenly have dictatorial powers over the entire Washington, D.C. region, and you now have the means with which to act upon your desires for the region as a whole, whether it be with regard to zoning, height limits, transportation, whatnot. And keep in mind that for the purposes of this thread, money is not an issue.

So, what would you do with all this power?

Here are my plans:

1. Tear down the metrorail bridge between La'Enfant Plaza and Pentagon stations, and replace it with an underground tunnel.

2. Extend the Yellow Line from Huntington in a tunnel along Route 1 through the Hybla Valley and Fort Belvoir.

3. Extend the Blue Line from Franconia-Springfield alongside the VRE line to Lorton. Both the Yellow and Blue lines would eventually merge just north of the Occuquan River, and run along I-95 until they reach the transfer-station between Woodbridge and Occuquan.

4. Extend the Orange Line to downtown Manassas, initially along I-66 to Fair Oaks/Fair Lakes, and then have it turn sharply southward past Centreville until it reaches the VRE stop at downtown Manassas. It shouldn't be terribly different in this regard from King Street station in Old Town Alexandria.

5. Tear down the Whitehurst Freeway.

6. Build an extensive and interconnected streetcar network throughout Washington, D.C., including Arlington County, Alexandria, and National Harbor (in PG County) to complement metrorail, particularly along K Street, M Street in Georgetown, and Wisconsin Avenue, among others.

7. Have Baltimore, Annapolis, National Harbor, old-towne Alexandria, Norfolk, Hampton Roads, colonial Williamsburg, and Richmond serve as primary points from which tourists can board ships (replicas of 18th century vessels that once functioned as a means by which planters throughout the area transported goods to and from England) and visit plantations and other historic sites throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Tourist attractions would include Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, Stratford Hall, and others, which could then rebuild as close to historical accuracy as possible their docks and pathways. And besides, it just makes sense to me -the waterways were said to be a more reliable means of transportation than overland routes were. It is part of the region's heritage that I don't think most people would object to.

8. Extend metrorail to Dulles Airport, tunneling through Tysons Corner along the way, with plans drawn up for eventual extensions to the (underground) terminus point at downtown Leesburg.

Wow, this forum seems dead especially on weekends....

Come on folks, post. You all have a vision of what you want this region to be, don't you?

I don't ask for much. Perhaps a metro station in Georgetown and the return of the hookers in Logan circle and 14th street. Oh and get rid of all the starbucks coffees, I swear there's at least one on every block.

Jam5, I'll respond to your suggesions.

1) I don't see what the point of tearing down a bridge would do, it provides a great view for passengers. Still functional. I would think more along the lines of adding 2 more rail tracks for the blue and orange line tunnel so that the Silver Line won't be to congested.

2) I agree with a tunnel extenstion of the Yellow Line along Route 1. Makes perfect sense.

3) I agree with extending the Blue Line to Lorton and having the Yellow Line terminate somwhere along the Blue Line going past Fort Belvoir.
But I would suggest extending the Blue Line to Potomic Mills, that part of Prince Williams surely wants and needs to get in on the metro train action.

4) I completely agree with extending the Orange Line into downtown Manassas, exactly how you described it, going southward past Centreville. I think a tunnel would be good here too.

5) The only way I would tear down the Whitehurst Freeway is if it was replaced with a tunnel of the same road capacity. Its serves a great purpose removing cars coming to and from downtown, to push past the snarled up traffice of M street thru Georgetown. Think about all the cars that use that Freeway to get up into Rosslyn and beyond and up past the C&O Canal into Maryland.

6) Streetcars, I guess so. Not overly excited by it, I would rather see more money invested in the Green Line up to BWI and the Purple Line before to much was put into streetcars....IMHO.

7) Sure, why not more clean maritime transportation.

8) I concur with a Silver Line terminus all the way into downtown Leesburg with the tunnel.

Lastly, I would extend the Red Line from Glenmont Station up to Columbia as a terminus station, where it could hook up with a train line into Bmore

Get rid of the building height restriction in D.C.