Bacon Bits: More, More, More!

More fiber.

A joint venture involving Annandale-based Tenebris Fiber expects to begin constructing a 680-mile regional fiber optic network in Virginia. The network will run through Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties and connect with a Virginia Beach cable landing station that links to Europe and South America with subsea fiber-optic trunk lines, reports Virginia Business. The network will support the continued expansion of Virginia’s data center industry.

More rail. Virginia has finalized agreements with CSX, Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express in a $3.7 billion project to build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River, add new track in the Washington-Richmond corridor, and buy hundreds of miles of passenger right of way from CSX. “This transformative plan will  make travel faster and safer,” declared Governor Ralph Northam in celebrating the signature transportation achievement of his administration. “It will make it easier to move up and down the East Coast, and it will connect urban and rural Virginia.” Even more, he claimed, it will reduce traffic congestion, cut pollution and create “a more inclusive economy.” So reports The Washington Post. I have yet to see a cost-benefit analysis of this massive investment. But with Uncle Joe planning a $2.3 trillion infrastructure boondoggle, Virginia will be getting lots of free money, so who cares?

More thought crimes. Kiara Jennings, who leads Loudoun’s Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee (MSAAC), said teachers who did not fully embrace the county’s diversity training should not be tolerated. “If our teachers and staff cannot be open and willing to learn how to be culturally competent then they do not need to be in the classrooms any longer,” she wrote in an email, as reported by The Daily Wire. The MSAAC then posted this on its Facebook page: “There is strength in numbers and we believe wholeheartedly, that united, we can and will silence the opposition.”


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17 responses to “Bacon Bits: More, More, More!”

  1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    The Potomac River Railroad bridge mentioned is the Long Bridge. It has existed in one form or another since 1803. The last reconstruction was in 1967. The navy hauled away the iron bridge trestle to Dahlgren for aerial target practice. Half a century later the bridge is finally getting a do over. This one has been in the hopper for decades.
    http://longbridgeproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LongBridgeProjectStudyArea-180509.jpg

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The rail project is the implementation set out in legislation adopted by the 2020 General Assembly. I set out some of the details last year in this post: https://www.baconsrebellion.com/all-aboard/

  3. WayneS Avatar

    I wish some reporter would ask the governor how, specifically, the rail bridge project will help “create a more inclusive economy.”

  4. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    In other words, elected officials are not about to re-evaluate needs after COVID. It must be full speed ahead on spending as previously promised.

    I am curious specifically what is meant by “buy hundreds of miles of passenger right of way from CSX” wondering if that impacts NoVA and exactly how?

    The good news is it probably means more VRE schedules. If you are not aware, VRE is currently quite limited (due to the bridge crossing bottleneck) to only a few trips to DC in morn and from DC in evening, and nothing on holidays/weekends. So we cannot currently use it like Metro for non-work related commutes.

    But I wonder if there is any bad news (more freight trains through NoVA neighborhoods)?

    1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      The answer is yes, it is anticipated that VRE service would increase significantly. See the link I provided in the comment above.

      You make a good point that COVID may have altered the commuting patterns enough that the plan may have to be altered. It is a long-range plan with lots of parts. Hopefully, state officials will be flexible in implementing it.

    2. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      VRE service on weekends and more passenger rail service to Richmond and other cities.

  5. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Speaking of rails, I wonder how NS is handling the pressure of GA’s new voter suppression laws now that they’re HQ’ed in Atlanta?

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead

      Speaking of transportation. How about Mr. Buttigieg riding his bike to the cabinet meeting? One block from the WH he unloads his green machine from the back of an SUV. Let me see the word in high school for guys like him: Poser…
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR_DZuFx4Cw

      1. WayneS Avatar

        That’s worse than trailering your Harley to Bike Week..

        1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
          James Wyatt Whitehead

          That Chevy Suburban gets 15 mpg in the city.

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        You should see what Rep. Matt Gaetz rides.

        1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
          James Wyatt Whitehead

          Not as many as Hunter, his daddy the sniffer, Franken, Weiner, Clinton, many Kennedy’s, and don’t forget Barney.
          https://www.ranker.com/list/democrat-sex-scandals/web-infoguy

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Vitter.

            Oh, and Hastert. The only thing he turned down was young boys and those he turned face down.

          2. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead

            Politicians can make you sicker than yesterday’s gravy.

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            As a sick puppy, I can tell you they’re safe when cooked well-done. Apparently, the most recent subject is fast approaching 175 degrees inside the thigh.

  6. Becky D Avatar

    Riding the train to Alexandria and then getting on Metro and then a bus got me to a couple blocks from my daughter’s house in Arlington. It was SO much better than driving on I95. There is a long stretch north of Stafford where the track is very close to the Potomac and I wondered if flooding might ever be an issue. When I went further north than DC, the locomotives had to be switched from diesel to electric. And going home, they had to be switched in DC from electric to diesel. Is that still the case?

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead

      It was the same way before Civil War. A train ride Front Royal to Baltimore would result in switching trains 3 times because of different railroad gauges (width between the rails). Don’t forget the 11 block walk across DC from one station to the next. No thru railway yet.

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