FABB Blog

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reported recently on recent design changes to the new parallel trail along I-66. Crediting feedback from bicycling advocates and surrounding communities, VDOT said that the project will now incorporate a taller, 50-inch-high concrete barrier to separate the shared use path when it is on the highway side of the noise wall. This is similar to the barrier that separates the trail from the roadway on the Capital Beltway's Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

As you know, the Transform 66 Project includes 11 miles of new shared use trail along I-66 that will tie into existing trail systems. This includes new or expanded bicycle and pedestrian facilities on 11 bridges. Additional trail sections will be built as part of the project in coordination with VDOT and local governments.

Thanks to everyone who has attended meetings and submitted comments to VDOT. Speaking Up works and FABB plans to keep doing so. 

FABB encourages members and others from Vienna, Fairfax City, and nearby areas around I-66 in Fairfax County to attend this Thursday's VDOT public hearing. The hearing will focus on various projects that will affect cyclists and pedestrians. In particular, there will be information available on additions to the George Snyder Trail in Fairfax City, the planned multi-use trail along Nutley Street in Vienna, and pedestrian improvements along Monument Drive and Lee Highway.  

There will be an open house at 6 p.m. with the hearing beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the VDOT Northern Virginia District Office, 4975 Alliance Drive, in Fairfax. If you cannot attend, you can email comments to meetingcomments@vdot.virginia.gov. Please reference “I-66 Concession Projects” in the subject line. You also can mail comments to Maria Sinner at VDOT’s District Office, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 through next Monday, January 8, 2018.

VDOT will be holding a public hearing on various Concession Payment Projects of concern to local cyclists and pedestrians on Thursday, January 4, 2018. There will be an open house at 6 p.m. with the hearing begining at 6:30 p.m. at the VDOT Northern Virginia District Office, 4975 Alliance Drive, in Fairfax. 

The purpose of the meeting is for the Commonwealth Transportation Board to gather comments on projects that will be funded by a concession fee to the Commonwealth as part of the financial agreement with Express Mobility Partners for the I-66 Express Lanes Outside the Beltway project. Based on public input, these projects, which are in the Commonwealth’s Six-Year Improvement Program, will be amended. Now is the time to speak up and make sure these new facilities are the best they can be. 

Information on the following projects will be presented at the meeting:

FABB encourages members and other interested cyclists in the areas around these projects to attend the hearing. If you cannot attend, you can email comments to meetingcomments@vdot.virginia.gov. Please reference “I-66 Concession Projects” in the subject line. You also can mail comments to Maria Sinner at VDOT’s District Office, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 through January 8, 2018.

FABB members, some more opportunities to speak up and make our voices heard about the I-66 parallel trail are planned for next month. 

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), in partnership with I-66 Express Mobility Partners (EMP), will host Design Public Hearings on the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project regarding plans for the 22.5 mile corridor from I-495 to University Boulevard in Gainesville.

All of the hearings will start at 6:00 p.m. and last until 8:30 p.m. with a formal presentation beginning at 7 p.m. followed by a public comment period.

FABB hopes that members and supporters will attend at least one of the hearings near the areas where they ride.  The meeting schedule is as follows: 

For project segment 3 from Route 50 to I-495

Monday, November 13, 2017

Oakton High School Cafeteria

2900 Sutton Road, Vienna, VA 22181

For project segment 2 from Route 29 in Centreville to Route 50

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Stone Middle School Cafeteria

5500 Sully Park Drive, Centreville, VA 20120

For project segment 1 from Gainesville to Route 29 in Centreville

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Piney Branch Elementary School Cafeteria/Gym

8301 Linton Hall Road, Bristow, VA 20136

The comment period runs through November 29, 2017. If you are unable to attend the hearings, you can still review project information, including design plans, project schedule, and environmental, right of way and civil rights information, at www.Transform66.org or at VDOT's Northern Virginia District Office at 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. 

You can email comments to Transform66@VDOT.Virginia.gov or submit them via the online comment form, available at Transform66.org. You also can mail written comments to Ms. Susan Shaw, P.E., Megaprojects Director, VDOT Northern Virginia District, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. Please reference "Transform 66 Outside the Beltway" in the subject line of all correspondence.

Supervisor Linda Smyth is hosting a Providence District community information meeting on I-66 at Marshall Road Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This is a great opportunity for FABB’s Providence District supporters to voice their concerns about plans for the I-66 parallel trail and their desire for improvements to the design of the trail. This trail has the potential to connect hundreds of thousands of people to neighborhoods, trails, and transit hubs while providing new recreational opportunities all along the I-66 corridor. Now is the time to speak up to make sure this once-in-a-generation chance to create a trail worthy of Northern Virginia is the . 

Mark your calendars and please plan on attending. 

Some Virginia lawmakers, like their constituents, are unhappy with plans that put a bike and pedestrian trail alongside traffic lanes on busy Interstate 66.

The Virginia Department of Transportation proposal squeezes the walking path between the highway and the concrete wall that serves as a buffer between traffic noise and adjacent neighborhoods. A jersey barrier and fence would separate trail users and traffic.

“We believe this is an insufficient design,” says a letter addressed to transportation secretary Aubrey Layne and signed by 18 members of the Virginia General Assembly. “I-66 Trail users will be closely sandwiched between a sound wall and traffic exposing them to concentrated quantities of car exhaust, noise pollution and road debris.”

Susan Shaw, director of Mega Projects for VDOT said the department is working with the project’s private partners to find other locations within those five miles of trail where the facility could be moved to the other side of the wall. A modified design would be released for public review this fall, she said.

VDOT has been very open to public input on improving the proposed parallel bicycling/pedestrian trail for the Transform the I-66 Outside the Beltway project. So, FABB is asking everyone to take a few minutes and send an email to VDOT with comments and ideas on how to make the trail better. The deadline for submitting comments is Friday, June 30, 2017. 

To help you with this, FABB is providing the following contact information and details about the proposed parallel trail for your use.  

Features of the concept plans that are praiseworthy include:

Features of the concept plans that raise concerns include:

FABB has revised its I-66 parallel trail simulation video to make it more accurate. We strive to always use correct information in our advocacy efforts but sometimes some of the material we need is not available or may be outdated. And, this occurred with our initial I-66 video. 

The simulations are FABB productions and do not represent many details of the proposed I-66 expansion. The highway is only a rough approximation based on available documents. Our focus, appropriately, is on the multi-use trail. 

After a helpful meeting with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials and the private contractor earlier this week, FABB arranged to make corrections to our I-66 trail user experience simulation. 

The primary changes are that there will be a fence instead of vanes on top of the concrete barrier separating the trail from the highway. Also, the concrete barrier is now planned to between 32 and 36 inches high rather than just two feet. 

Finally, FABB wants everyone to know that VDOT is interested in getting public input on the design. They indicated that there will be opportunities other than the meetings this week for this. Final designs will be issued this fall.

Please check out the updated video and please speak up at the remaining public meetings. Or send your comments and ideas to VDOT at Transform66@VDOT.Virginia.gov.

A FABB member recently asked us why VDOT is building the I-66 parallel trail on the highway side of the sound wall and exposing the trail users to unhealthy air.

This is a great question and is one that should be asked of VDOT at the public meetings this week. One of the reasons FABB encourages members to attend public meetings is you never know who may identify a problem everyone else has overlooked. We also found that having a mix of attendees increases the likelihood that someone will have the personal background and experience to raise important issues related to their neighborhood.  

Regarding air quality on the proposed trail, we’re told that scientific research has concluded that when air pollutants hit the sound walls they are forced upward and then are disbursed over a large areas.  This is great for homes near the sound wall because the air quality on their side of the barrier measures 50% better/cleaner than the air on the traffic side of the wall. For anyone using the proposed trail, however, this means that pollutants are directly flowing over the cyclists and pedestrians and, in certain wind conditions, concentrating along the wall. 

It would be good to know whether or not the Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have been consulted about the placement of the shared use path. And, if the answer is no, then why not?

Please continue to share your questions and insights with VDOT. If you can't attend the public meetings, then please send them an email at Transform66@VDOT.Virginia.gov.

It’s great that the Transform I-66 Outside the Beltway project will include a 22.5 mile bicycle/pedestrian trail. We’re concerned, however, that VDOT specifications for the trail have shortcomings that will undermine a user-friendly experience, dramatically limit its utility, and risk creating a trail that will be under-utilized.

So, we’ve created this simulation to help people visualize what the trail will be like for major portions of its length. Please check it out. 

We have three major opportunities in the coming week to provide input to VDOT for making the trail more user-friendly, safer, and more likely to become a successful transportation option. Details on the meetings and some the proposed trail’s shortcomings are in this FABB blog. 

Now is the time to speak up! Please plan on attending one of the meetings in Oakton, Centreville or Bistow this week or on sending comments to VDOT at Transform66@VDOT.Virginia.gov.

• For about 16 of the project’s 22 miles the current plan places the trail when it passes near homes on the highway side of the noise barrier/sound wall.
• In these locations the trail will only be separated from traffic by a two-feet tall roadway barrier topped by fencing.  
• In these locations exposure to noise, pollutants, buffeting from traffic, and weather (the path appears to lack natural cover from trees to protect against sun and wind) will affect the quality of the user experience on the trail. 
• The height of a separate grade for the trail, if any, has not determined. 
• The ​8-feet to 10-feet wide ​trail ​will be used as a service road for utility vehicles, and when these trucks are present, trail traffic will be constricted.
• There are only 11 access points to the trail through the sound barriers planned in select local neighborhoods, which may not be sufficient for safety and ease of use. 
• The plan relies on ambient lighting from the roadway to illuminate the trail. Public input on areas on where additional lighting might be appropriate would be helpful​ 

• Monday, 12 June, Oakton High School, 2900 Sutton Road, Vienna
• Wednesday, 14 June, Stone Middle School, 5500 Sully Park Drive, Centerville
• Thursday, 15 June, Pine Branch Elementary School, 8301 Linton Hall Road, Bristow

Please plan on joining us at the Mosaic Community Space on Wednesday, 17 May, for our May FABB Meeting. It should be a great evening that can start with a visit to Choolaah Indian BBQ, which is graciously donating a portion of the proceeds from each meal sold to FABB.  Afterwards, in addition to our usual updates on bicycle improvements and events in Fairfax County, we will be given an advanced look from the Virginia Department of Transportation on the plans for the I-66 Outside the Beltway bike trail. 

The Mosaic Community Space is located around the corner from Brine Restaurant and District Dumplings on Merrifield Cinema Drive. Choolaah Indian BBQ is located at 2911 District Avenue next to the Angelika Film Center, and all you need to do is tell the cashier that you are there to support FABB. 

3.13 Sidewalks and Shared Use Paths 3.13.1 General

A. The Developer shall design and construct the Project to include proposed pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian facilities within the Project corridor, as identified in the RFP Conceptual Plans. The Developer shall not preclude the future design and construction of pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian facilities currently being planned or anticipated.

B. Existing pedestrian and bicycle access on facilities shall be maintained to the maximum extent possible throughout construction as per the MUTCD and the Virginia Work Area Protection Manual. Any temporary pedestrian or bicycle facility closure request shall be submitted in writing twenty-one (21) days in advance to the Department for review and approval. Advance notification of closures shall be provided to the public similar to scheduled roadway closures.

C. New bicycle and pedestrian path facilities and modifications to existing bicycle and pedestrian path facilities shall be designed in accordance with the standards and specifications set forth in Attachment 1.5. All new bicycle and pedestrian path facilities intersecting I-66, the associated Interstate ramps, or other roadway facilities as depicted on the RFP Conceptual Plans shall be grade separated (over or under) unless otherwise approved by the Department.

D. Where a box culvert is replaced along a proposed or existing trail, the new culvert barrel carrying the path shall have sufficient width and vertical clearance to accommodate the shared-use path and a handrail adjacent to the stream. In lieu of this, a separate barrel may be solely dedicated for shared- path use. The walking surface of the path shall be located above the five-year stormwater level. Where the path also serves as an equestrian trail, the vertical clearances shall be increased accordingly. Lighting shall be required for all bicycle and pedestrian path underpass structures and facilities. This lighting shall be installed in accordance with the VDOT Traffic Engineering Design Manual.

E. The Developer shall conduct coordination meetings with all local jurisdictions and the Department to ensure existing and planned pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian facilities are identified along the Project corridor. Any planned facility that is not constructed with this project shall not be precluded in the future. For locations where new bridge overpasses are proposed to widen existing bridges with end spans that contain slope protection, the new bridge shall not be reduced in length and the new end span shall not preclude shared- use path placement.

F. The Developer shall coordinate with the Department and local jurisdictions on the design, maintenance of traffic and construction staging of the bicycle and pedestrian facilities within the Project limits.

G. Concrete and asphalt pavement designs for sidewalks and shared use paths shall be in accordance with Attachment 3.7. If a locality wants a stone dust surface on a facility, the Developer shall coordinate obtaining a maintenance agreement for the Department with the Locality. The specifications for the stone dust surface shall be approved by the Department.

H. The Developer shall design and provide drainage for any new independent pedestrian or shared-use path bridge or underpass structure. Drainage scupper grates on bridges and drainage grates in underpass structures shall be located within the 2-foot shoulder of the path unless otherwise approved by the Department. All drainage grates shall be bicycle friendly and meet ADA requirements. All drainage grate installation orientation shall prevent bicycle or pedestrian encumbrance.

I. The Developer shall design a shared use path parallel to I-66 that is consistent with the RFP Conceptual Plans. Where proposed noise barriers are to be located near homes, the path shall be on the I-66 side of the noise barrier. In addition, a roadway barrier with fencing shall separate I-66 vehicular traffic from the new pedestrian/bicycle facility.

J. Where possible, utility manholes should be located outside of any pedestrian areas (sidewalks, paths, etc.). If necessary, utility access manholes may be located within the 2-foot shoulder of the 10-foot shared use path. Where manholes are located within a sidewalk or shared use path, the manhole covers must be ADA compliant.

K. Access points to the shared use path parallel to I-66 shall be provided at approximately half mile increments. These locations may be co-located with other access needs to reduce the breaks in the sound barriers. The Developer shall coordinate with adjacent and nearby communities and local jurisdictions regarding the locations and design of each access point. Possible access points are in the vicinity of the locations listed below:

1. Braddock Rd at NW Quadrant of Route 28 Interchange. Underpass for connection to future trail to Route 28 north.

2. Audrey Dr (Cabells Mill Development, Centreville).

3. Connect to the standard turn at the end of Veronica Rd (Cabells Mill Development, Centreville).

4. West side of Stringfellow Rd connection to Park & Ride Lot and street crossing to east side of street trail.

5. Fair Lakes Shopping Center (behind Target).

6. East Market Shopping Center (behind Whole Food Market).

7. Existing trail from Waples Mill Rd (NE Quadrant of US 50 Interchange).

8. Arrowhead Dr/Rosehaven St (SW quadrant of Route 123 Interchange).

9. Bushman Dr (just east of tennis courts property).

10. Cedar Lane north side connection to I-66 parallel trail.

11. Connection to west bend of Yeonas Drive (west of Southside Park).

The above access points are shown on the RFP Conceptual Plans and the Bicycle/Pedestrian Concept Feasibility Study exhibits.

L. Mile marker and wayfinding signs shall be incorporated into the design.

M. Existing trails impacted by the Project shall be replaced.

N. The Developer shall provide 8 permanent non-motorized traffic counters composed of combined bicycle detector loops and passive infrared sensors. The location of counters shall be proposed by the Developer and approved by the Department. The infrared sensors shall be enclosed in a vertical post. The posts should have a 2-foot clearance from the path where possible. The proposed continuous count equipment and vendor shall be approved by the Department.

Each counter shall be able to:

1. Count both pedestrians and cyclists;

2. Differentiate between pedestrians and cyclists;

3. Measure the direction of travel of both pedestrians and cyclists;

4. Provide for automatic remote transmission of data via a modem;

5. Provide for in-field transmission of data wirelessly to a field computer;

6. Record count data at 15-minute intervals, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year;

7. Provide a detection height of 24 inches to 36 inches (for infrared sensor);

8. Operate in temperatures from -30 degrees Fahrenheit to 100 degrees Fahrenheit;

9. Be waterproof; and

10. Provide a wood post housing for natural settings or a metal vandal resistant post for urban settings.

Software used for transmittal and storage of data shall be able to:

1. Provide customizable alert system for missing or unusual data;

2. Provide the ability to combine data from multiple counters;

3. Provide the ability to record site description data;

4. Provide an estimate of counter battery levels;

5. Provide a data transmission subscription for each counter;

6. Provide the ability to create multiple viewer accounts; and

7. Provide the ability to view, edit, and create reports.