FABB Blog

 

Exploring Fairfax County by bike

The W&OD and Mt. Vernon trails are the two primary bike facilities in Fairfax. Both of those trails have become overcrowded. The W&OD Trail is one of the premier rail trails in the U.S. On busy summer weekends it seems that every cyclist in the county has decided to ride the trail. I think many of us are in a trail rut; we need to get off the trail and explore the county.

FFX Co Parkway Trail at Route 50

The county Bicycle Route Map contains hundreds of miles of bicycle-friendly roads where few cyclists ever ride. On Saturday we decided to take a long bike trip using the route map as our guide. We chose a route that included the Soapstone Drive and Lawyers Road bike lanes, the West Ox trail to Ox Trail/Rugby Road to the Fairfax County Parkway trail.

FFX Co Parkway Trail still unpaved between Rt 50 and Fair Lakes Blvd

We wanted to check out the Parkway trail at Fair Lakes to see if it had been paved. Unfortunately the trail is still not paved. As we've reported several times in the past, the trail was closed for many months. After many requests to provide a detour VDOT finally opened the trail although it was still not paved. In April we were told it would be paved any day now. In general the Parkway trail is in bad shape. Fortunately there are plans to repave several of the worst stretches this year.

FFX Co Parkway Trail south of Lee Hwy Bad news - The trail is in bad shape Good news - The trail is not crowded

At Fair Lakes Parkway the trail diverts from the Fairfax Co Parkway but there are no wayfinding signs. We followed the Fair Lakes Parkway trail to West Ox Road toward Lee Hwy. At the entrance to Costco the trail crosses West Ox to the east side and continues across Lee Hwy to rejoin the Fairfax Co Parkway trail. At Braddock Road there is another detour that is partially signed.

We continued on the Fairfax Co Parkway trail all the way to Burke Centre Parkway where there is another FFX Co Parkway trail

Rt 123/Burke Centre Parkway FFX Co Parkway detour signs

detour along Burke Centre Parkway and Route 123. We did see a couple of signs showing a detour route, but not enough for someone who isn't familiar with the area.

We had lunch in Burke where we saw two bike racks installed incorrectly, a common theme in the county. After lunch we returned to Route 123 where we headed north for a short stretch and then followed a route on the map along very quiet neighborhood streets, a good alternative to riding on the 123 trail that is in very poor condition as you approach Braddock Road and GMU.

We ended up on Sideburn Road where we headed north to Braddock Road and on to GMU. We rode the bike lanes along Patriot Circle to University Drive, through the City of Fairfax all the way to Route 50. We could have taken the wide sidewalk but we rode on 50 to Plantation Parkway. There's a connecting trail at the end of Plantation Parkway that leads to Five Oaks Road, which turns into Saintsbury Drive after crossing Blake Lane. We passed the Vienna Metro station and continued on Vaden Drive to the trail through Nottoway Park.

Incorrectly installed bike rack at Burke Centre

From Nottoway Park there is a short cut-through trail to Tapawingo Rd. We followed neighborhood streets back to the W&OD Trail. Sometimes the W&OD Trail can't be avoided. Between Vienna and Reston the trail is about the only decent route. Usually later in the day the trail is less crowded.

During the 2 hours and 45 minutes we rode before reaching the W&OD Trail we saw a total of 15 bicyclists. It took less than 3 minutes to see that many bicyclists on the W
&OD Trail. There are many, many miles of roads and trails in Fairfax that are almost unused by bicyclists. It takes some effort to find them, but the bicycle route map is a great resource. We're told the new interactive route map is available as a smartphone app using ArcGIS. We'll write about that later.

Let's get out of our W&OD Trail rut and ride on some of the other bike-friendly routes in the county. Most county residents who are not familiar with the W&OD Trail have no idea how busy it is. They see almost no bicyclists. Why not get out and explore the county by bike?

Labels: bike parking, burke centre parkway, fairfax county parkway trail, route 123, W and OD Trail

posted by Bruce Wright at 1:27 PM permalink

 

Taming Burke Centre Parkway

Braddock District Supervisor Cook hosted a meeting last night on what can be done to make the area around Burke Centre Parkway safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The road currently is a barrier between the more residential area south of the Parkway, that includes Terra Centre Elementary School, and Burke Centre and Burke Centre Village to the north.

Andrew Lentz of Burke Walks - Safe and Green spoke eloquently about the desire of the surrounding community to safely get around on foot and by bike. He talked about his group's efforts to try to tame the Parkway and allow kids who live across the street from the school to walk or bike there. Fairfax County school policy is to prohibit students from crossing the Parkway. Students are bused who live within sight of the school.

Representatives from VDOT, Fairfax County DOT, Fairfax County Public Schools, the Burke Centre Conservancy, and the Police were also present. It was refreshing to hear the new VDOT Northern Virginia District Administrator, Garret Moore, say that as public servants, VDOT staff should begin the discussion with citizens by saying "What can we do to help?" and not explain why they can't do something. He also noted that there is flexibility in the existing codes and regulations that allow for narrower lanes. Although he didn't say it, on a road like Burke Centre Parkway this could lead to slower traffic and allow space for bike lanes.

We wish others had this same attitude instead of spending time during the meeting explaining why they couldn't implement measures to make it safer to cross the Parkway. Where it's difficult to cross the Parkway in front of the school, Police talked about writing tickets for jaywalking, which in Virgnia isn't illegal. School staff noted that their jurisdiction ends at the school property line, and any changes to the roads or surrounding sidewalks and trails must be made by the county or VDOT.

Police summarized traffic citations issued for speeding violations on the Parkway between May 1 and October 28, 2010. There were 402 citations, 318 of which were for speeding. Of the 318 tickets, the majority were between 55 mph and 62 mph with an average speed of all violators of 57.9 mph. This is on a road with a 40 mph speed limit. There were also 14 crashes along the Parkway, which extends just under 3 miles in length.

When concern was expressed about the speeding and number of crashes one officer said that the statistics should be put into perspective and that he didn't see anything unusual in these numbers. This just shows how much we as a society have come to accept the real danger involved in our use of cars. As another officer stated, the most dangerous thing you do all day is get into the seat of your car.

The audience was very supportive of suggestions for slowing traffic and making the Parkway safer. Many were frustrated that the problem has been discussed for so many years without any solutions being proposed. Several suggestions were made for changes to the road. NOVA VDOT Administrator Moore suggested that a smaller group could be much more productive in studying alternatives and developing solutions. Supervisor Cook agreed to convene a study group/task force; what really a amounts to a smaller group of concerned citizens and staff, meeting a few times to develop possible solutions.

This is a good step forward and thanks to Andrew and the folks at Burke Walks and at Burke Centre Conservancy for helping make the meeting happen and for getting to this point. Now it's time for solutions.

Update: What I neglected to mention is the role that Safe Routes to School can play in improving walking adn biking conditions around the school. Through the program there are techniques for assessing the safety of walking and biking conditions around a school and developing solutions. The program was mentioned several times last night, and the Burke Walks folks have developed an application. Supervisor Cook noted that the Board is supportive of the effort and it's one solution to the problem. Which reminds me that I need to summarize the presentation that was given to the Board of Supervisors at their Feb. 1 Transportation Committee meeting. There was enthusiastic support for SRTS and a desire to move forward with a county application.

Update: Here's the summary of the Board of Supervisors presentation.

Update: Patch article on the Burke Centre Parkway meeting.

Labels: burke centre conservancy, burke centre parkway, burke walks

posted by Bruce Wright at 10:32 AM permalink

 

Petition to slow traffic on Burke Centre Parkway

Parents of children at Terra Centre Elementary School want their kids to be able to safely walk and bike to school. The school is adjacent to Burke Centre Parkway, which is a wide, divided four lane road with a 40mph speed limit that is frequently exceeded. The parents have a simple request, that motorists be warned that there is a school zone ahead.

They have created the petition Support for School Zone Designation on Burke Centre Parkwa:
Please sign the petition to support this effort. After signing you'll be asked to donate to the petition site. This is not required for the petition to be completed.

There will be a meeting on traffic-calming of Burke Centre Parkway on February 7 hosted by Supervisor Cook. The meeting is from 7-9pm at Terra Centre Elementary School, Address: 6000 Burke Centre Parkway, Burke, VA 22015. Cyclists are encouraged to attend to speak out for a safer Burke Centre Parkway. See the Burke Walks Facebook page for more info.

Labels: burke centre parkway, burke walks, supervisor cook

posted by Bruce Wright at 9:00 AM permalink