Multiple trees have been erroneously cut down along a ramp from Wiehle Avenue to the Dulles Toll Road in Reston, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says.
Kevin Lerner, who works in a Reston Station office building, says he noticed a team of contractors starting to remove trees along the entrance ramp to the westbound toll road lanes around 10 a.m. on Oct. 31. By 1 p.m., over half of the tree stand had been cut down.
“The trees have been a calming buffer from the urban bustle and noise of the highway, enhancing the visual serenity of our sweet suburbia,” Lerner said, noting that a crew appeared to be planning to cut down trees on the south side of the highway as well.
MWAA spokesperson Emily McGee confirmed to FFXnow that a contractor hired to conduct landscaping work in the Dulles corridor had cut down the trees.
The landscaping is “part of the finishing touches” for MWAA’s Silver Line construction project, she said. The project extended Metrorail service from Tysons and Wiehle Avenue in Reston into Loudoun County, with the second phase adding six stations that opened in November 2022.
However, the tree removals were “not intended” under the scope of the landscaping work, according to McGee.
“Once this was discovered, tree removal was immediately stopped,” she said. “MWAA and the contractor are working to determine next steps.”
About one-third of the trees now remain, but the removals give his office and others in Reston Station “an unobstructed view of the 267 toll road and the Metrorail,” Lerner told FFXnow yesterday (Wednesday).
He confirmed there’s been “no further work” in the area since Oct. 31.
It’s unclear what MWAA’s next steps might entail. The airports authority said it didn’t know the exact number of trees that had been removed or have any more information to share when asked whether the ramp might be replanted with new trees.
Officially recognized as a biophilic “city” since 2018, Reston has tree canopy covering approximately 53% of its total land area. When it updated the Reston Comprehensive Plan in September 2023, Fairfax County set a goal of at least maintaining the existing canopy with no net loss.
