For Immediate Release | View this Press Release as a PDF file

TYSONSTUNNEL.ORG TAKING ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN TO HIT AIRWAVES
Capital-region radio ads that target stressed-out area commuters to start today
Download the radio ad here (MP3 format: 480k - right-click to Save file)

Tysons Corner, Va. (March 13, 2007) – TysonsTunnel.org—a diverse and unprecedented coalition of community, private-citizen and business groups—is taking its advocacy of a Metrorail tunnel under Tysons Corner to stressed-out area commuters starting today when it unveils a radio advertising campaign during afternoon drive time.

The 30-second spot will be featured on several popular FM radio stations that reach different audience sets in the national capital region. Those stations are:

• WASH (97.1), which caters to listeners of contemporary and soft-rock music;
• WMZQ (98.7), the region’s top country-music station;
• WTOP (103.5/820 AM), the top-rated news station in the capital area; and
• WBIG (100.3), the highest-rated oldies station in the market.

The great majority of ads will air during the weekday morning and afternoon drive times. The campaign will start this week.

“This community-education campaign will introduce hundreds of thousands of local residents to the more economical, more environmentally-friendly tunnel approach,” said Scott Monett, president of TysonsTunnel.org. “The ad’s message is that a tunnel is the only option on the table that will avert traffic-inducing impacts. It is vital that local residents look at the short-term effect and the long-term implications for what is best to do. When listeners go to the TysonsTunnel.org Web site they also will learn about the significant taxpayer cost-savings that will be realized through the construction of a Metrorail tunnel under Tysons.”

“This radio advertising campaign comes at a critical juncture in time. Our elected leaders currently are considering the final design selection for the Metrorail extension and need to hear from their constituents,” Monett continues. “The campaign will help spur discussion of the tunnel by local residents with their elected representatives at the local, state and national levels.”

Shining a spotlight on the region’s already-congested roads, the TysonsTunnel.org radio ad features Cynthia Steele Vance, a former WTTG  news anchor and prominent McLean resident, talking about how she felt elated that the coming Metro extension through Tysons would alleviate traffic tie-ups. She then recounts her dismay upon learning that the railway through Tysons Corner would be built on a traffic-inducing, six-story high concrete platforms down Routes 123 and 7. She touts a tunnel under Tysons as a “better alternative” and directs listeners to www.TysonsTunnel.org to learn more about the tunnel option.
Download the radio ad here (MP3 format: 480k - right-click to Save file)

TysonsTunnel.org represents an unprecedented coalition of community associations, small businesses, environmental groups, landowners, civic groups, homeowner associations, major corporations and private citizens calling for competitive bidding of the design-build work for a Tysons tunnel and the Metrorail extension to Dulles Airport.

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For media inquiries:
Alan Greilsamer / Communications Resources, LLC
Phone: (703)760-7007 office / (703) 201-2508 mobile
E-mail: agreilsamer@communications-resources.com