Friday, January 29, 2016
GGW Article on Fairfax Pedestrian Fatalities
Today Greater Greater Washington published Pedestrian deaths tripled in Fairfax County. Bad road design didn't help. The article references an NBC4 report on the topic, including footage of the Gallows/Route 29 intersection near the Mosaic District. The footage also shows a motorist running a red light when turning right and you hear another motorist honking at a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk. The report was filmed before the big snow storm; conditions are much worse out there now. See our earlier report about a walkable Mosaic District. |
| Image from NBC4 report |
NBC4 reporter Adam Tuss talked to some people about what's going on. A leading hypothesis in the story is that more people are walking around. That seems likely, but one element is missing: how poorly Fairfax's roads are designed for walking.
A number of people in the story talk about newcomers. One driver says, "I definitely worry about people who aren't from here," who try to cross when they don't have the light or not at a crosswalk. The subtext sure sounded like, "... people aren't familiar with the way we haven't designed roads for pedestrians in Fairfax County."
Just look at this intersection where Tuss is standing, the corner of Gallows Road and Route 29. It's about 0.6 miles from the Dunn Loring Metro station. And it's huge.
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