I'm glad they are no longer trying to use the softball fields spaces for the new stadium, with the "promise" that other softball fields would be built in the area. More jobs in the area is a great thing. If they can figure out the parking and traffic issues, I'm all for it. Just further for me to travel for the fireworks.

Just add to more traffice along the I-95/Route 1 corridor. What is wrong with the planning of this in such a congested area???? Get real, find something else that won't add to the traffic from hell route!

I am so excited they are staying local! Everyone was worried that they would move out of PWC and I thought personally that would be a real shame. I think Stonebridge is perfect. Close to 95, Wegman's & Toby Keith's...perfect fit!

I also can't see why they also couldn't rebuild a state of the art facility at the Fitz, use the current adjoining fields and rebuild the adjoining fields after completion. Citi-Field did the same thing with Shea, and I think the Fitz is located in a nice spot, but if it is change that would get them to stay I am for it.

Route 1 is congested I agree, but I don’t think this would add any traffic to what it carries already. Dale Blvd & Optiz would be affected the most with this project. I just wish PWC could see what other areas in Northern VA are doing with multi-use planning.

The era of strip centers and single use buildings are over…you need to plan for the future, use less space and be more energy and fiscally efficient. I even think a cable car or light rail line down the middle of Old Bridge/Prince William Parkway to connect Manassas, Lake Ridge, Occoquan and Lorton is not a stupid idea…that is always a traffic mess… Let’s get our heads out of the past and think about our legacy to the community and what people want. People looking to buy homes, shop at stores & raise families don’t always want Central Park (Fredericksburg) they want walkability, comfort and somewhere where they can enjoy their spare time and PWC doesn’t seem to understand that it is the wave of the future.

I think a separate light rail similar to what is in Minneapolis, Phoenix & Vancouver would be perfect for PWC. Enough to connect Manassas- to Lorton Station or even Springfield. You could have transportation hubs at current locations like The Old Hechinger Lot, Tackett’s Mill, Dillingham Square, Hoadly, etc. and have the line proceed to the other hubs for bus transport into the city, slugging or even a connection to metro. Metro is an option but seems more cost prohibitive then a lower cost and environmentally friendly light rail that could run down the middle of an existing roadway without destroying the community. Plus as we have witnessed recently Metro doesn’t seem to be run in a fashion that is fiscally responsible and I think PRTC/VRE could do a better job operating the system.

Am I the only one who sees a major problem with the phrase "unique public-private partnership"? How much are the Sups gonna put us on the hook for on this thing at the expense of the county's failing infrastructure and allegedly bankrupt pension funds?!

If Metro came to Woodbridge that would be a GREAT step in the right direction!!

According to what I have read, it will cost the team but very little to tax payers...but that could also be spin...

Stacked parking is the answer to all these sprawled malls. I believe the new stadium will have stacked parking.
Ted Fischer- are you local? That idea of a separate light rail is a winner!
For years I have said we can't keep widening the roads- it's a waste of money. When I moved here there were mostly two lanes, then four, then six now eight. This is crazy! It only gets more and more congested.
Metro comes up regularly, but I think it has gone too long for that to now be viable.

Connie, I am local. I have lived in Lake Ridge for over 10+ years and I have seen the life dwindle from Tackett’s Mill, the building of countless office space that is never filled and lanes being widened when there is no need…we need to come up with ideas that are outside of the box, our community is only getting bigger and if we don’t start something now we will be paying the price later down the road.

I honestly have also enjoyed visiting cities where I can get around without a car and love the feel of good old fashion public transportation. (San Francisco Cable Cars, Vancouver’s Canada Line Monorail, Minneapolis’s light rail from the airport to downtown, Cleveland’s subway that connects the suburbs) I think it brings something special to a community when there is more human interaction.

Swearing at the guy who is eating cereal while drive down Old Bridge gets old…there needs to be something more. I understand that not everyone will want the option, but the “next” generation is skipping communities that don’t have it, and I think to survive as a viable community that attracts business and residents we NEED it.

This is a horrible idea! It will bring unwanted traffic to the area, and it really isn't a good idea since there is a hospital across the street. I live in Potomac Club and will surely sell my house if this happens. I don't want to listen to fireworks every Friday night at the home games.

Lauren, you should be a diplomat!
Marie, what "unwanted people"? Our county has flipped to a minority/majority. Metro isn't going to bring a bad element, any more than moving to some other location will keep "unwanted people" from following you.

We need solutions to massive problems like transportation, infrastructure, education, jobs and quality of life issues. Metro would have been open today if people had looked forward to see what the future might bring. Instead, we're trapped by traffic.

I also belong to a telework task force whose goal is to get people off the roads. I would like to see the area around the exit at Dale City be razed and buildings similar to the one the FBI has in Manassas be built. That would give some workers a reverse commute and decrease a little of the federal government's concentration in the downtown area.

(I've lived here 26 years.)

Springfield was also suffering from the fact few people were still going to traditional malls, the growth of online tax free sales and a crumbling infrastructure around it with a land lord who didn’t want to update its look or become more modern. Springfield Mall is currently being transformed and will soon be the talk of the town… http://www.springfieldtowncenter.com/

Metro may have contributed by an uptake in crime, but the mall was already on the downswing when the metro opened. Woodbridge on the other hand (Route 1) has always had a bit of a crime problem, maybe this will mean positives and not negatives to the residents.

On the fireworks topic..., I live within a few miles from Stadium and enjoy the fireworks every Friday night…my dog on the other hand loves to bark at them…but over all I consider them a nice experience and will miss them once they have moved.

Re stadium, NO to the stadium @ Stonebridge! Rebuild where it is. Its gotta be cheaper to than starting over. Stonebridge will be congested enough when the shopping center is complete. Re general growth of PW Co: I am 47 & life long No. Va. resident. Grew up in Fairfax Co, now live in Dumfries. I remember when getting around Fairfax County was very doable. FC was a good place to live, raise a family--always a thriving economy, plenty of jobs, plenty of resources for shopping, entertainment, without feeling urban. Now much of the county is a mess of constant traffic, business, too much housing & growing crime. And I don't believe light rail is the solution, I'm sorry. I saw it come to DC and expand into the suburbs and it did not improve traffic one bit, and contributed to a less family environment and more urban one in FC. There are many families in PW Co. I'm a mom of 4, we will not use rail ever, its not cost or time efficient. All the rail is going to do for many families in the area is cause more construction/congestion & change that family setting we currently enjoy. I understand there has to be progress, I believe in free enterprise, but keep in mind what too much "progress" will do to the quality of life of your current residents. I don't want this area to become urban like much of Fairfax is quickly becoming.

Stonebridge is not the site to use. There is already enough congestion in that area as it is. Route 1 and I95 are already bottlenecked in that area the majority of the time and especially on weekends. If they don't want to rebuild it on the current site, then move it up by Manassas, near the Jiffy Lube Pavilion, or whatever they’re calling it these days. At least that way the traffic will be spread out AWAY from the I95 corridor.

Would much rather see it along 123 between I95 and US1. Nothing there but delapidated strip malls. Great undeveloped area adjacent to Occoquan. Fans come come from I95, 123 or US1.

Development will happen. We can't stop it. What we can do is plan it, design it, redevelop the present into a better future.
The US Census puts the population at 313, 961, 487 as of this minute. We are not getting less people in America every minute, we are getting more people every minute.
I am hoping for tourist dollars, sales tax dollars, small business successes to offset the ever increasing burden on residential property taxes. Please think about the big picture- it's not about fireworks.

Seattle has a pretty good website for light rail. Read some of this:
http://www.soundtransit.org/About-Sound-Transit/Environment-and-sustainability.xml

Thanks for the insightful comments and discussion, everyone. We will have more information on this tomorrow morning!

Here's our update: http://woodbridge-va.patch.com/articles/potomac-nationals-stonebridge-potomac-town-center