FABB Blog

 

Cyclists attend Burke/Shiplett meeting - Update

Several cyclists attended the meeting last night on proposed bike lanes on Burke Road and Shiplett Boulevard. Supervisor Herrity and Planning Commission Chairman Murphy were also there.

On both roads, lanes would be narrowed to allow striping of bike lanes for long sections of the roadway. Such treatment is known as a "lane diet." Where not enough room is available for bike lanes, shared lane markings, "sharrows," would be used.

One person expressed a concern about cost and it was pointed out that since both roads will be repaved, changing the striping pattern to include bike lanes has a minimal impact, if any, on the cost of the project.

There is a lot of pent up demand for better bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the area. Several people noted that without sidewalks, people are often seen walking on Burke Road. Burke Village Center is located nearby. Others talked about the need for trail maintenance, especially snow clearing on popular trails.

In the image on the right, the red section of Burke Road will be striped with bike lanes.  The other sections will likely have sharrows. A few people were concerned that the sharrows would encourage inexperienced cyclists to ride on a dangerous road. Others wanted the sharrows to warn motorists to expect cyclists and help prevent motorist harassment of cyclists.

The red section of Shiplett will be striped with bike lanes. The blue, green, and yellow sections will have a climbing lane in one direction and various options for wide shared lanes with sharrows in the other direction. There is not enough room for standard bike lanes on both sides.

The presentation will be posted on the county bike pages in the near future.

Update: Cyclists are encouraged contact Supervisor Herrity and/or Adam Lind to show your support for these projects.

Labels: burke road, chairman peter murphy, lane diet, shiplett blvd, supervisor herrity

posted by Bruce Wright at 9:50 AM permalink

 

February 26 meeting on proposed bike facilities in Burke - Update

Fairfax County is holding a meeting on proposed bike facilities on Shiplett Boulevard and Burke Road on Thursday, February 26. This meeting is one of a series of meetings on planned bike projects to be implemented as part of the summer repaving schedule.

Bike lanes are being proposed on Shiplett Boulevard from Burke Lake Road to Old Keene Mill Road AND on Burke Road from Burke Lake Road to Rolling Road by reducing roadway lane width, known as a "lane diet." No roadway widening is anticipated.

The meeting will be held on February 26 at the West Springfield Community Center, Community Room located at 6140 Rolling Road. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. 

Cyclists are encouraged to attend to support these projects. While there should be little or no opposition, it helps to have cyclists present to voice their support. Please consider attending. See an earlier FABB blog posting about funded projects.

On a related note, see an earlier presentation on the proposed road diet on Kingstowne Village Parkway.

Update: The Liberty Bell Trail is scheduled to be completed this year and would connect to bike lanes on Burke Road, providing another incentive for more people to use bikes to get to the VRE station and for other short trips. See an earlier FABB blog entry about the Liberty Bell Trail.

Labels: burke road, lane diet, liberty bell trail, shiplett blvd

posted by Bruce Wright at 4:07 PM permalink