FABB Blog

Twice a year the county Department of Transportation submits a Transportation Status Report to the Board of Supervisors. On Tuesday they unveiled the February 2017 report that includes status info on bicycle and pedestrian activities. For more information you can attend the FABB Monthly Meeting tonight at Oakton Library starting at 7:30 p.m. Bicycle program staff will be present to take questions.

The report will be posted soon on the Transportation Status Report page or you can see Information Item 4 in the March 14 Board Agenda:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs
The Board directed FCDOT to lead the effort to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety and mobility, including constructing bicycle and pedestrian facilities in high-priority areas of Fairfax County. In 2006, the Board endorsed a Ten-Year Funding Goal of $60 million for new bicycle and pedestrian projects. Through FY2020, the Board has greatly exceeded this goal by selecting $314 million in high-priority bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects.

• Pedestrian and Bicycle Access and Safety: FCDOT staff advanced the Fairfax County Pedestrian Program by direct collaboration with other agencies and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for public information meetings such as the I-495 Tysons Pedestrian Bridge, the Tysons Experience (Open House), the Hunter Mill Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB), the Vienna Metro Bicycle Access Study, the Little River Turnpike Bicycle Corridor Study, the Scotts Run Trail to McLean Metro, and Great Falls Street and Kirby Road sidewalks. 

• Safe Routes to School: FCDOT has collaborated with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), providing funding to build sidewalks needed to connect neighborhoods to schools. FCPS staff provides FCDOT sidewalk requests that would allow more children to walk to school. Projects are selected for funding based on FCPS priority and site-specific engineering. FCDOT currently has four SRTS-funded projects under design, at Terra Centre Elementary School, Flint Hill Elementary School, New Graham Road Elementary School, and Westbriar Elementary School. The Board’s adopted Transportation Priorities Plan for FY2015 – FY2020 provided additional funding for 23 school-walking-route sidewalk projects totaling $22 million. 

• Trails and Sidewalks Committee: FCDOT provided staff support to the Trails and Sidewalks Committee which meets monthly. The committee is composed of representatives from across the County, including representatives from Washington Area Bicycle Association, building industry, community associations, equestrian clubs, Disabilities Services Board, and the Fairfax County and Northern Virginia Regional Park Authorities. The committee makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors regarding pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian issues in the County. [Note: FABB has several members on the committee. We are working on getting a formal position on the committee.] 

• Yield to Pedestrians Fine Signs: Fairfax County is one of the few jurisdictions in Virginia allowed to designate certain crosswalks for Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalk $100 - $500 Violation Fine signs. As of 2017, FCDOT has installed and maintains over 2,000 of these signs at over 500 intersections.

• Education (Street Smart Media Campaign): FCDOT staff worked with regional partners on the Street Smart Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Media Campaigns. The twice-yearly campaigns utilized major-market television and radio, print, and bus advertising to promote safety awareness responsibilities of drivers and pedestrians in both English and Spanish. 

• Enforcement: FCDOT staff worked with the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) which conducted pedestrian safety enforcement in high pedestrian crash areas countywide. The FCPD conducts pedestrian enforcement and public awareness through all district stations as part of annual traffic enforcement plans. 

• Increase and Enhance Bicycle Parking: FCDOT added 17 new bicycle racks and completed one new bike parking installation, and is preparing several more for installation in 2017 at libraries, parks, and County government centers. 

• Secure Bicycle Parking Facilities: Staff is finalizing work on new “Bike-and-Ride” facilities at various locations countywide including: Phase II Silver Line Stations and Springfield Community Business Center Commuter Parking Garage. The bike-and-ride at Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station continues to be heavily utilized (110 members to date) and the County now operates an additional bike-and-ride at the Stringfellow Road Park-and-Ride. Staff is also coordinating with WMATA on the addition of two bike-and- rides at the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU-Fairfax Metrorail Station and the Franconia-Springfield Metrorail Station. These stations will be owned and operated by WMATA. FCDOT added 17 bike racks at the following locations: Mason District Park, West Springfield Government Center, John Marshall Library, and Audrey Moore Rec Center. More bike racks will be added throughout 2017. 

• Bicycle Route Signage-Countywide: Three wayfinding projects are scheduled to be completed in spring 2017: Franconia-Springfield Metrorail Station, Annandale to the East Falls Church Metrorail Station, and along the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail from Route 50 to the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metrorail Station. FCDOT will continue to expand its bicycle wayfinding program throughout 2017, including the much anticipated Fairfax County Parkway Trail Wayfinding project. 

• Western Fairfax Historic Cycle Tour: Cycle Tour Map is complete and sign design has been finalized. Printing of the route map is complete and design of the wayfinding is underway. 

• Fairfax County Capital Bikeshare: Capital Bikeshare launched in Reston and Tysons on October 21, 2016. There were eight stations in Reston and seven stations in Tysons at the time of launch, which represented 50 percent of planned stations. Staff continued to add stations since the launch and there are now 12 stations in Reston and 11 stations in Tysons. The remaining seven stations will be added in 2017. Staff is also working to purchase and install more stations in 2018 through a VDOT Transportation Alternates Program Grant. More information on County Bikeshare, including station locations, can be found at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/restontysonsbikeshare.htm. 

• VDOT Repaving Program: FCDOT and VDOT once again partnered for a successful 2016 repaving program which added nearly 15 lane-miles of on-road bike facilities. A large concentration of bike facilities were added in the Annandale area (Mason and Braddock Districts), an area that lacked bike lanes until 2014. In 2015, 5.4 miles of bike lanes were added, and 14 miles of bike lanes by the end of 2016. Additional bike lanes were added in other areas of Braddock and Mount Vernon Districts as well.