FABB Blog

In their ongoing series of public meetings, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will host a repaving and restriping meeting for the Braddock and Providence Districts on Thursday, March 1, 2018.  The meeting will be held at the Oak View Elementary School Cafeteria, 5004 Sideburn Road in Fairfax. 

As you know VDOT and FCDOT use the repaving and restriping process to implement Fairfax County’s Comprehensive Plan to improve traffic safety and provide more transportation options. Proposed striping changes in the Braddock District 

include road redesigns of Forum Road, Post Forest Drive and Ridgetop Road, as well as adding striped parking lanes, shared lane markings (sharrows), bike lanes and buffered bike lanes on Sideburn Road. Sadly, there are no striping changes planned in the Providence District in 2018. Details on the proposed changes can be found here.

This is a great opportunity for bike advocates to show up and speak up in support of the proposals and provide ideas to the VDOT and FCDOT planners for future restriping opportunities. If you can’t attend, you can still provide comments through March 16, 2018. Submit you comments for Braddock District here and for Providence District here. 

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. 

• Learn about the Arlington Boulevard Trail, a proposed trail connecting Washington D.C. to the City of Fairfax. See the Arlington Boulevard Trail Concept Plan.
• Hear from Fairfax County Dept. of Transportation’s Adam Lind about local bike improvements in the Mason and Providence Districts.
• Share your concerns and suggestions for improving bicycling in your community.
• Find out about upcoming events and other bicycle activities.

Hope to see you tomorrow night!

Sonya Breehey
VP, Board of Directors

In 2007 when FABB sponsored the Tour of Tysons to show Fairfax officials and others what it was like to bike in Tysons, Commissioner Lawrence and Supervisor Smyth greeted us before the ride. When Fairfax County was developing the first Bicycle Route Map, Commissioner Lawrence attended one of the public meetings where cyclists marked up maps to help develop the first draft of the map. 

Commissioner Lawrence was a kind man with a good sense of humor who could be counted on to provide sage advice on how Fairfax should grow in the future. He'll be missed.

Since his profile on the Planning  Commission site will likely be replaced by his successor's, we've taken the liberty of copying it below:

Kenneth Lawrence was appointed by the Board of Supervisors (on a motion by Supervisor Linda Smyth) to serve as the Providence District Planning Commissioner in January 2004 to complete the term of his predecessor. In January 2013, Commissioner Lawrence was reappointed by the Board of Supervisors to his third consecutive term, which will expire in December 2016.

Commissioner Lawrence is an active member in various community organizations. He has chaired the Briarwood Citizen's Association Land Use Committee and served as the Briarwood representative on the 2001 Area Plan Review task force. He also chaired the work group on the Fairlee out-of-turn plan amendment in the Providence District. In addition, Commissioner Lawrence is a member of the Northern Virginia Family Services' Training Futures Advisory Council and an active volunteer with the American Lung Association of Virginia, serving as a member on the Government Relations Committee.

Commissioner Lawrence retired in 1998 from a 40-year career in private industry and the federal government. He began his career conducting training device design and human factors research, which ultimately led to a focus in instructional design. His work ranged from developing single units to entire courses in technical and procedural training, employee development and employee performance support, and the target populations for the training included members of the military, sales staff, procurement and tax specialists, and research managers.

Commissioner Lawrence lives with his wife in the Fairfax area of the Providence District

In 2016, Lawrence chaired the Tysons Committee. In addition, he was a member of the following committees: Environment, Land-use Process Review, and Transportation. He was an alternate member of the Telecommunications Committee. Lawrence has been a Virginia Certified Planning Commissioner since 2005. He was featured in the August 2007 Planning Communicator, which is available online at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning/august2007newsletter.pdf.