Monday, August 18, 2014
Sherwood Hall Lane bike lanes installed
VDOT is completing the installation of bike lanes on Sherwood Hall Lane as part of a repaving/pavement marking project to improve safety. See an earlier FABB blog post for details. We've already heard from cyclists in that area who welcome the new bike lanes. Thanks to Supervisor Hyland and Delegate Surovell for supporting the project and to Fairfax County and VDOT staff for their work on the project. The newly configured road will benefit all users by making it safer and providing a dedicated bike facility. Please send thank you notes to Supervisor Hyland and Del. Surovell.Del. Surovell is a cyclist. Here are his comments on the project along with a video clip he recorded on a recent bike ride along Sherwood Hall Lane, posted on his blog, The Dixie Pig:
Multimodal improvements are critical to get more cars off the road. It is also hoped that by restricting lane size, this will help to lower speeds and illegal passing on Sherwood Hall Lane which has become a real problem with increased cut through traffic.
These improvements were the result of two public hearings and significant public input. These lanes will eventually link into to a multiuse path on U.S. 1 and other bike lanes as U.S. 1 is redone, properties are redeveloped and road repaved.
These improvements were the result of two public hearings and significant public input. These lanes will eventually link into to a multiuse path on U.S. 1 and other bike lanes as U.S. 1 is redone, properties are redeveloped and road repaved.
Labels: delegate scott surovell, sherwood hall lane, supervisor hyland
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Support bike facilities on Sherwood Hall lane
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| Share the Road sign on Sherwood Hall Lane. Photo taken on FABB South County tour in 2007 |
Making Sherwood Hall Lane a more complete street will benefit all users of the road. By reducing the travel lane width, adding a center turn lane, and adding bike lanes, the road will be safer for everyone, including local residents. Residents are opposed to the plan, primarily because of the loss of the parking. A great deal of space is devoted to free parking that very few people use. The same arguments for opposing the bike lanes and retaining on-street parking that were used to oppose the King St. bike plan are being used to oppose the Sherwood Hall Lane plan. Many, many people use this road who do not live in the immediate area and they should to weigh in on this decision.
Labels: delegate scott surovell, senator toddy puller, sherwood hall lane, supervisor hyland
Sherwood Hall Lane repaving - Proposed cross sections
Below are proposed cross sections for 6 segments of the Sherwood Hall Lane repaving project that was the subject of a meeting on Wed., March 12. The major concern expressed at the community meeting was removal of parking. As you can see below, some of the proposed profiles, do not include parking. Even though very few motorists park on the road, residents want the option of parking for guests and overflow from their driveways. Please contact the Mt. Vernon District office, Senator Toddy Puller, and Delegate Scott Surovell and voice your support for bike lanes and traffic calming on Sherwood Hall Lane.
Labels: delegate scott surovell, senator toddy puller, sherwood hall lane, supervisor hyland
Monday, February 4, 2013
Dangerous bike conditions on Route 1 sidepath - Guest blogger Mark Murphy
The side trail is only a few years old, built as part of the Wilson Bridge Project. Soon after it opened, I found that cars making the right on red at Fort Hunt Road and cars exiting the parking lot at the Hampton Inn routinely drove across the side path, looking to their left to turn into northbound Richmond Highway traffic but never looking to their right for bicycles or pedestrians coming southbound on the trail. So as you come to these crossings, even with the right of way or the green light, you never know if a driver will pull out and hit you.
In 2011 I asked Fairfax Police to do some enforcement at the Fort Hunt Road intersection. The officer who went to the location observed a constant flow of cars running the red to turn onto Richmond Highway. I thought that some new signs and notices might make drivers more aware of the hazard, so I spent most of that year working (not very effectively) to get Fairfax County and Virginia DOT to take a look at the intersection. When I met with a staff member of Supervisor Gerry Hyland’s office and a VDOT employee at the site, I brought this photo of a sign from the City of Alexandria.
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| Photo by Mark Murphy |
VDOT, which controls Fairfax County’s roads, will not post any sign not on its approved list and the one I suggested isn’t on it. The VDOT technician also said he could not paint a yellow stripe on a crosswalk. Instead, VDOT and Supervisor Hyland’s office offered to make three other changes: move the "Yield to Pedestrians / $200 Fine" sign on Fort Hunt closer to the intersection, where it was more likely to be seen by drivers thinking about turning right on red; paint the crosswalk with stripes; and install another "Yield to Pedestrians / Fine" sign at the Hampton Inn entrance nearby. But after a few months, when none of those things happened, I checked back to find that Fairfax County had decided that they couldn’t do any of the things they had agreed to. Exasperated, I asked Supervisor Hyland’s office what they could do, and the staff person said she would talk with Fairfax Police about stepping up enforcement.
That was May of 2012. Every day that I commute home from work, I’m extra watchful of right-on-red drivers and cars crossing the side trail. But last month, on January 4, I was hit by a car entering the Hampton Inn parking lot. The driver didn’t see me riding along the trail, although I had on a reflective vest and two headlights. I didn’t see his turn signal, if it was on. When his car turned towards me, I slammed on my brakes but couldn’t get out of his way in time and when he hit me, I flipped up onto his car’s hood.
Thankfully, I am okay. The driver did the right thing and seemed genuinely sorry about the collision. My bumps and bruises healed and I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike when the repairs are done. The bike needs a lot of work but the driver’s insurance company is taking care of that. But Fairfax County, VDOT and Fairfax Police all failed me and, in a sense, they also failed the driver.
When VDOT and Fairfax County have been made aware of a serious safety hazard to cyclists and pedestrians, why have they done nothing about it? Instead of ignoring, then rejecting a number of ideas for improving safety at these crossings, I would like for authorities to make it their problem and come up with some solutions. VDOT and Fairfax County authorities should have to answer why nothing has been done to alert drivers that they are crossing over a bicycle and pedestrian trail.
When a bicyclist is on a bicycle-pedestrian side trail and gets hit by a car, why does the police officer say the bicyclist shouldn’t ride on the “sidewalk?” The officer came up with several excuses, like a broken streetlight and the questionable effectiveness of reflective vests, for refusing to cite the driver for the collision. The driver that crossed a bicycle path and struck a cyclist was not cited. How can that be right?
Labels: fairfax county police, fort hunt road, richmond highway, route 1, supervisor hyland, vdot
