Wednesday, May 13, 2015
VDOT News Release on Fairfax Bike Improvements - Update
Today VDOT sent out the following news release entitled Paving Brings Opportunity for Bicycle Improvements: New striping for bike lanes and other enhancements at 20+ locations. We've been reporting on the many meetings that Fairfax County and VDOT have been hosting to gather feedback on these projects, including the meeting tonight on plans for bike lanes on Park Run Drive in Tysons.It's great to see VDOT and Fairfax County working together to take advantage of the repaving of several roads in Fairfax to make them more bike friendly. The addition of bike facilities in these projects adds almost no additional cost and increases the safety for all road users.
From the News Release:
PAVING BRINGS OPPORTUNITY FOR BICYCLE IMPROVEMENTS
New striping for bike lanes and other enhancements at 20+ locations
New striping for bike lanes and other enhancements at 20+ locations
FAIRFAX—With the Virginia Department of Transportation’s largest season of paving for northern Virginia underway, there comes good news for bicyclists: About 20 road segments will see enhancements such as bike lanes and sharrows during this year’s regular surfacing and striping.
VDOT’s traffic engineers partnered with county staffs to identify segments, most in Fairfax County, that were scheduled for paving and that would be ideal for bicycle improvements such as:
- Slightly shifting or narrowing lanes to accommodate bike lanes
- Placing “sharrows”—shared-lane markings that help increase awareness of cyclist activity
- Several “road diets,” where in certain locations, a travel lane is replaced with elements such as left-turn lanes and bicycle lanes, which can help reduce speeding and increase safety for all users.
VDOT has seen successes with road diets on Soapstone Drive, Lawyers Road and Oak Street, and with sharrows on Westmoreland Street, says Randy Dittberner, VDOT’s traffic engineer for northern Virginia.
“These are minor changes with major benefit for bicyclists,” said Dittberner, “We are making the best use possible of the pavement, and because we’re seizing the opportunity to adjust the designs during regularly scheduled work, these changes come at very low cost.”
County and VDOT staff met with the public and local supervisors in each affected area to discuss the changes and solicit input and feedback.
Location highlights:
- Road diets on Kingstowne Village Parkway, Hinson Farm Road, Westbranch Drive and Greensboro Drive
- Improvements in the Tysons Corner area on Greensboro Drive, Westpark Drive, Westbranch Drive, Jones Branch Drive, Park Run Drive and Tysons Boulevard
- Bike lanes on Backlick Road, Amherst Avenue, Parkers Lane, Quander Road, Annandale Road, Burke Road, Shiplett Boulevard, and Sudley Manor Road
See a complete list of planned enhancements.
The paving and new striping will take place starting in June. More localized project details will be announced as paving schedules are finalized.
The paving and new striping will take place starting in June. More localized project details will be announced as paving schedules are finalized.
Follow VDOT Northern Virginia on Twitter: @vadotnova
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