Wednesday, August 29, 2018
New Bike Routes in Reston
VDOT is finishing up work on new bike lanes on South Lakes Drive in Reston as part of the 2018 repaving season. South Lakes Dr was changed from having 2 lanes in each direction to having a single travel lane in each direction and buffered bike lanes. During the public meeting held in March of this year, residents were opposed to county's proposal, even though traffic counts indicated that traffic flow would be minimally impacted.As a compromise, VDOT did not reduce the lanes the section of road that includes South Lakes High School as residents felt strongly that full capacity was needed there. As a compromise, an alternate route was identified using Ridge Heights Rd and Soapstone Dr. Ridge Heights will be getting bike lanes later this year and there are already bike lanes on Soapstone.
Today we noticed that FCDOT has placed South Lakes Bike Route signs along the section where the route deviates from South Lakes Dr. Thanks to VDOT and FCDOT for implementing this project and installing wayfinding signs. The massive traffic jams that some residents predicted would occur once school was back in session have not happened; traffic seems to be flowing just fine and we're seen more cyclists using the road. Let's hope that once people discover this new bike facility that many more will join them.
Here is a photo of one of the new bike route signs.
In south Reston there is now an almost complete network of bike routes leading to the village centers, the W&OD Trail, the Metro station, and other destinations. Soon there will be a new separated bike facility along Sunrise Valley Dr that will be important as new residential units are being constructed. Here's a map that we just put together showing the major on-road bike facilities (except for the trail shown along Sunrise Valley Dr leading to the Metro station.
Labels: FCDOT, repaving, reston, vdot, wiehle-reston east
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Bike Parking Expansion at Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station
The free bike room has become very crowded, with bikes locked to the fence and elsewhere. We've counted over 55 bikes on a nice summer day. Fairfax County will be expanding bike parking in the free bike room next Tuesday, September 5. All bikes must be removed from the room during that time. Thanks to Fairfax County for addressing the need for more parking at the station.
From the county:
***ATTENTION***
The bike room will be closed on Tuesday, September 5th to add more bike racks.
Please remove your bike before Tuesday. Bike parking is available on the plaza.
Any questions, please call 703-877-5600.
Labels: bicycle parking, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
Friday, July 21, 2017
New Bike Racks on Wiehle-Reston East Station Plaza
We've reported on the need for more free bike parking at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. The free bike room adjacent to the paid secure bike room fills up on most days and bikes end up being locked to various objects in the room. One was even hanging from the fence recently.
According to development plans (Sheet 11, page 177), bike racks will be placed on the plaza outside the station entrance. We're pleased to report that a new set of inverted U racks was recently installed near the bike share station. The racks are not covered but they do provide an option for overflow parking from the bike room. Thanks to Comstock and Fairfax County for working with us to install these racks.
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| Overflow bike parking at Wiehle station. Capacity is 36 bikes. There were 54 parked on July 12. |
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| New U racks on Wiehle Station Plaza |
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| Reston Station Development Plan, Sheet 11 showing proposed bike rack locations on plaza. |
Labels: comstock, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Bicycle Parking at Wiehle-Reston Metro Station Inadequate
We received the following guest blog post from Richard Markeloff, a regular bike commuter to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. Richard is concerned about the lack of free bike parking: |
| Unsecure Free Bike room at Wiehle-Reston East station. |
Bike parking at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station includes a secure bike room available to subscribers for $75 a year and a room available to the public for free. While the secure room is underutilized, with the available rack space about half empty, the public room is too small to meet a growing demand. Often, all the racks are full and riders are forced to lock their bikes to the steal mesh walls.
On at least one day in 2016 the public bike room was full to capacity and it was impossible to find space for any additional bikes. Security guards employed by Comstock Partners, the owner of the property, will clip locks and confiscate bikes locked to any objects outside of the bike rooms.
More and more people are biking to the Wiehle-Reston Metro and days when the public bike room is full are bound to become more frequent. Not everybody is able or willing to pay for access to the secure bike room. Possible solutions include remodeling the bike rooms or adding outdoor bike racks. Perhaps the best solution would be to eliminate the $75 fee to use the secure room – no one should have to pay to park their bike at a Metro station.
We agree with Richard that the unsecured bike room, located near the secure bike room, is frequently overflowing with bikes. As we reported back in August 2014, the free room has a capacity of 36 bikes but usually contains several more than that. On Thursday of last week there were 39 bikes there. Many of them, we estimated 15 or so, have been parked there long enough for their tires to be flat or grossly under inflated. The bike room was not intended to be a long term storage area. The county needs to address the problem.On at least one day in 2016 the public bike room was full to capacity and it was impossible to find space for any additional bikes. Security guards employed by Comstock Partners, the owner of the property, will clip locks and confiscate bikes locked to any objects outside of the bike rooms.
More and more people are biking to the Wiehle-Reston Metro and days when the public bike room is full are bound to become more frequent. Not everybody is able or willing to pay for access to the secure bike room. Possible solutions include remodeling the bike rooms or adding outdoor bike racks. Perhaps the best solution would be to eliminate the $75 fee to use the secure room – no one should have to pay to park their bike at a Metro station.
Another way to address the problem is to allow short term use of the secure bike room. Currently only those who pay the annual fee of $75 ($15 of which is refundable) can use the room. There is no daily use. Motorists can pay a daily fee to park cars using their SmartTrip cards and bicyclists should be able to do the same.
Yet another solution is to add bike racks on the plaza outside the station entrance. According to the approved development plans for the property, 29 hoop racks will be installed around the plaza. The only racks there now are outside the Blvd apartments, filled with bikes belonging to the Blvd. We're working with the county and the developer to have the required 29 racks installed. We've been told that temporary racks will soon be installed until the new permanent racks appear, and that the developer seeks to modify the locations of the racks and add 11 more racks on the plaza for a total of 40 racks with a capacity for 80 bikes. That will help.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Wiehle Station Bike Room Closed Dec. 5-9
This is a notice that the bike room WILL BE CLOSED FROM DECEMBER 5TH-DECEMBER 9TH.
An issue that will surface during this closure is the number of bike that have been left in the free bike parking area for many, many months. We occasionally mark bikes in that area to determine which bikes are left for extended periods of time, and we estimate that as many as half of the spaces are taken up by those bikes, leaving much less parking for commuters who need to use the parking on a regular basis. There is always the option to pay for access to the secure bike room ($75/year), but the county needs to address the issue of bike storage in the free parking area.
Sidewalk construction will be underway in front of both the free bike parking room and the bike parking member area. Please remove your bikes and anything else you need prior to Monday morning as there will be no access for multiple days once construction starts.
FCDOT will be providing parking options on the plaza level of the metro station next to the Bikeshare Station. Please do not park your bike anywhere else on site as the lock will be cut and it will be put into storage on G2 level (you can reclaim your bike at no cost if this happens and we will provide more info before the end of the week on who to contact).
We are also in the process of hiring Two Wheel Valet to provide valet bicycle parking from 7am-9pm each day of the week that the bike room is closed. This will provide people on site to watch over your bicycles from the hours of 7am-9pm. More details to come.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly and we apologize for this inconvenience.
Thank you,
Adam Lind
Bicycle Program Coordinator
Fairfax County Department of Transportation
T: 703-877-5783 TTY: 711 F: 703-877-5949
FCDOT will be providing parking options on the plaza level of the metro station next to the Bikeshare Station. Please do not park your bike anywhere else on site as the lock will be cut and it will be put into storage on G2 level (you can reclaim your bike at no cost if this happens and we will provide more info before the end of the week on who to contact).
We are also in the process of hiring Two Wheel Valet to provide valet bicycle parking from 7am-9pm each day of the week that the bike room is closed. This will provide people on site to watch over your bicycles from the hours of 7am-9pm. More details to come.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly and we apologize for this inconvenience.
Thank you,
Adam Lind
Bicycle Program Coordinator
Fairfax County Department of Transportation
T: 703-877-5783 TTY: 711 F: 703-877-5949
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
First Bikeshare Stations Installed in Reston
We rode past a few of the other planned Reston stations and found one at Reston Regional Library (15-dock) and at the Wiehe-Reston East Station (35-dock). Those are all locations owned by Fairfax County. You should expect to see the rest of the stations appearing soon.
It's exciting to think that bikeshare will soon be a reality in Fairfax County. Kudos to Fairfax DOT, the Board of Supervisors, and others for making this happen.
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| Bikeshare station at Reston Town Center Transit Station (17 docks) |
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| A 15-dock station in front of Reston Regional Library |
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| Wiehe-Reston East Station with 35 docks |
Labels: bikeshare, capital bikeshare, Reston bikeshare, wiehle-reston east
Monday, December 14, 2015
Faces of Fairfax - Kevin
Labels: FABB, Faces of Fairfax, reston, wiehle-reston east
Monday, October 12, 2015
Faces of Fairfax - Denise
The Wiehle-Reston East Station boasts Fairfax County's first enclosed, secure bicycle parking facility. This facility provides over 200 bicycle parking spaces located adjacent to the station's bus platform and kiss and ride area and helps make bike commuting to and from Reston much easier.
Labels: FABB, Faces of Fairfax, reston, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
W&OD Trail not quite clear in Reston area
Long sections of the W&OD Trail are still snow and ice covered in the Reston area. According to NVRPA staff, the recent snowfall amount was not enough to allow them to use their snow blower. It's unfortunate because there is enough snow that it will likely cover sections of the trail for several days. NVRPA did have a crew out clearing snow at some of the intersections.You can see from the first photo below that there's lots of ice and snow from Old Reston Ave toward the east for as far as you can see. You can also see the tire tracks of the NVRPA truck that passed through.
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| Looking east near Old Reston Ave |
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| Looking east toward Wiehle Ave |
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| Sidewalks at Wiehle station, looking west from Wiehle Ave |
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| Wiehle Ave trail looking south |
Labels: snow, W and OD Trail, wiehle-reston east
Friday, August 15, 2014
Post article on riding to the Wiehle station
Lucinda Shannon works downtown and lives two miles from the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. Like many Reston residents, she started bike commuting when the station opened. Kelley, of FABB and the Reston ped bike committee, volunteered to help her find a good bike route and gave her some moral support. See Lucinda's story in the Post article, Meet the Silver Liners! We tagged along with a few new riders to see how it's going.
But how would she lug her stuff? Or ride with traffic? Or figure out what to wear?
Enter Kelley Westenhoff, chair of Reston’s Pedestrian & Bicycling Advisory Committee. Her group developed 10 route maps for residents looking to get from their neighborhoods to the new station. Committee members even offered to create individualized plans, meet people at their homes and lead them on a commute.
Labels: Silver line, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Post reports on biking to Silver Line stations
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| Bicycles filling up Wiehle south rakes this morning. |
If drivers weren’t plentiful at the McLean station Monday, cyclists were. By the time Cecilia Clavet arrived at the station, most of the bike racks were occupied, forcing her to double up.
Usually Clavet, a policy adviser for the Nature Conservancy, drives 10 minutes to the West Falls Church station, where she parks and hops on an Orange Line train. But with the McLean station just down the hill from her home, she rode in. Her route didn’t include any major roads such as Chain Bridge Road or Route 7. Still, she said, the county could make the roads more bike-friendly. “There weren’t any bike paths, and I’m not used to riding a bike in traffic, so it was a little bit nerve-racking,” she said.
The county master plan for cycling access is expected to go before the Planning Commission in
October, according to Charlie Strunk, Fairfax County’s bicycle coordinator. The Board of Supervisors is expected to consider it later that month. But Strunk said some improvements have been put in place, including the addition of bike lanes to Gallows Road.
Mariano Gutierrez pulled up to the bike rack at the Spring Hill station about 9:15 a.m. — his first time biking to a Metro station. He was pleased but said he hopes the county will do a better job of delineating bike lanes, particularly because Tysons is not a particularly bike- friendly area. He also wondered whether officials had done enough to make drivers aware there would be more cyclists on the roads.
Still, those were minor problems, he said, and he planned to be back on his bike Tuesday:
“I’m going to do this every day.”
People will ride to the stations if it's safe and convenient. Bike access to the Wiehle station is relatively good and bikers are flocking there. This mooring at just after 8am the 16 racks outside the Wiehle bike room were nearly full as were the 10 racks on the south side of the station. Once the free racks regularly fill, I assume many people will want to join the bike room, which works out to about 25 cents/day for regular commuters.Usually Clavet, a policy adviser for the Nature Conservancy, drives 10 minutes to the West Falls Church station, where she parks and hops on an Orange Line train. But with the McLean station just down the hill from her home, she rode in. Her route didn’t include any major roads such as Chain Bridge Road or Route 7. Still, she said, the county could make the roads more bike-friendly. “There weren’t any bike paths, and I’m not used to riding a bike in traffic, so it was a little bit nerve-racking,” she said.
The county master plan for cycling access is expected to go before the Planning Commission in
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| Wiehle bike room at around 8:30am. Membership is $60/year. |
Mariano Gutierrez pulled up to the bike rack at the Spring Hill station about 9:15 a.m. — his first time biking to a Metro station. He was pleased but said he hopes the county will do a better job of delineating bike lanes, particularly because Tysons is not a particularly bike- friendly area. He also wondered whether officials had done enough to make drivers aware there would be more cyclists on the roads.
Still, those were minor problems, he said, and he planned to be back on his bike Tuesday:
“I’m going to do this every day.”
It's not too early for WMATA and Fairfax County to figure out how to add bike parking at the Wiehle-Reston East station. Fairfax County and VDOT need to expedite construction of bike facilities to all the new stations. Signage is needed for cyclists and motorists such as sharrows and Bicycles May Use Full Lane signs. People biking to the stations reduces congestion, relieves the need for additional car parking, and is good for so many other reasons.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Silver Line opening day
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| New bike room customers with Charlie Strunk, county bike coordinator |
At around 11:30 a.m. the ribbon was cut at the south entrance to Wiehle station. Participants included US Department of Transportation Secretary Foxx, Virginia Governor McAuliffe, Congressmen Connolly and Moran, and several Virginia and Fairfax elected officials.
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| Cutting the ribbon at Wiehle-Reston East |
We exited again at Tysons Corner to check out the new Plaza at Tysons Corner Center (see construction camera). The direct connection from Tysons Corner station to the Plaza is not completed so we followed a circuitous route to street level then through Lord & Taylor. There were no bikes parked at the station racks but we expect them to get more use during the week.
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| Tysons Corner station |
We saw several passengers with bicycles at the Tysons and Reston stations. Metro is a great way to extend your cycling opportunities in the metro DC area.
Today was a major milestone for multimodal transportation in Fairfax County. It will be interesting to watch how travel patterns change over the next several years. We expect many more people in Fairfax to add Metro and biking to their transportation options.
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| First train riders entering Wiehle-Reston East |
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| Passing under Wiehle Ave |
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| Tysons Corner station bike racks |
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| Bird sculpture on The Plaza at Tysons Corner Center |
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| John Wetmore of Perils for Pedestrians |
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| Metro entrepreneur |
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| Bikes at the Wiehle station |
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| Free parking outside Wiehle bike room |
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| Bike coordinator Charlie Strunk and Bruce Wright of FABB inside Wiehle bike room |
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| Bruce and Kerie in Wiehle bike room |
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| Bike parking on south side of Wiehle station |
Labels: dulles metrorail, Tysons, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Post Silver Line travel guide
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| Photo: Washington Post |
One common refrain about the Silver Line: “I don’t work or live out there, so I won’t be using it until it goes to Dulles.” But that’s a pretty limited way to look at the five newest Metro stops. Even if Tysons and Reston are nowhere near your regular 9-to-5 routine, there are plenty of other reasons to make the trip. We’ve developed a few potential itineraries — including a bike adventure, a night out and a shopping excursion — that will entice you to pull out that SmarTrip card.
The article links to a map of some suggested routes to the Tysons stations developed by FABB members Pete and Liz. Check out our new page Bicycling and the Silver Line for more information on biking to the new stations and info about using bikes on Metro. There are links to the Tysons routes mentioned above in RideWithGPS that include cue sheets, along with a number of routes to the Wiehle-Reston East station mapped by the Reston ped/bike advisory committee using Bikely.Labels: Silver line, wiehle-reston east
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Wiehle-Reston East bike room open house July 19
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Wiehle station bike room
Photo: David Madison
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We've heard that bike trains will be converging on the station around 9:30 a.m. followed by a bike parade. A formal program is scheduled for 10 a.m. followed by the ribbon-cutting. Bike organizations and bike shops will have information tables. As we learn more about the event, including a link to additional details, we'll post it on the FABB site.
Additional details about the open house: The ribbon-cutting ceremony will start at 10 a.m., and the Open House and Transportation Expo will follow the ceremony and run through 3:00 p.m.
Several organizations, including FABB, plan to have booths at the event. Folks from the Reston Master Plan Special Study Phase 2 will be there to discuss and answer questions about the study.
Friday, May 30, 2014
New video on bike room at Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station
Fairfax County recently released this video about the new bike room at the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station. The room can hold 208 bikes but the capacity can be expanded. FABB provided some feedback on the types of racks being used. See the bike program website for details.Friday, May 16, 2014
Intrepid cyclists persevere at Bike to Work Day - Update: Burke photos & Connection article
The rain was coming down hard when I stuck my head out the door at 5:30 a.m. to ride to the Reston Bike to Work Day pit stop to volunteer at the FABB table. By the time I left at 6:15 the rain was very light and it was a surprisingly nice ride to the pit stop at the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station, site of the future mixed-use development Reston Station.A steady stream of soggy but upbeat cyclists visited the pit stop throughout the morning. I estimate that about 1/2 of the 500 or so people who signed up showed up. Some drove but most rode, and the conditions weren't that bad. Those who did show up had a good chance of winning one of the many raffle prizes offered by sponsors. We were lucky to have an indoor option thanks to Comstock Partners, developers of Reston Station.
Thanks to all the volunteers at the Reston and other pit stops around the county, and a special thanks to the volunteers who represented FABB at most of the events.
Update: See Connection article Biking to Work Despite Rain: Bike To Work Day highlights alternative travel in Fairfax County.
Here are some photos from the Reston event:
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| One of our more well-prepared volunteers |
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| Entrance to the event. |
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| RA President Ken Knueven, Supervisor Hudgins, Delegate Ken Plum |
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| Inside the Reston Station development. |
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| Intrepid FABB volunteer Kerie |
Here are some photos from the Burke pit stop:
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| FABB's Alan Young (right) inside the Burke garage |
Labels: bike to work day, burke, reston station, wiehle-reston east
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Bicycling to the Wiehle Metro station
The Reston Pedestrian & Bicycling Advisory Committee is writing a letter to VDOT and FCDOT about "Critical intersections surrounding the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station." They are proposing specific changes to improve ped/bike access to the station. The letter will be discussed at their meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at Reston Association headquarters, 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston. The committee "invites any interested RA members to attend and voice any concerns they have so we can try to include their input."
I plan to attend the meeting and have a number of concerns including curb ramp design, motorists turning right on red and ignoring trail users, ped signal timing, and bicyclists being able to activate traffic signals at the Isaac Newton Sq/Sunset Hills Dr intersection.Another concern relates to the traffic signal at the entrance to the station at Reston Station Blvd. Why is the right turn arrow green when the pedestrian signal is indicating pedestrians and bicyclists should be crossing? I don't think there is a need for the green arrow, which I think encourages motorists to turn right without yielding to people in the crosswalk.
Labels: wiehle-reston east
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
New Wiehle-Reston East Metro station bike room page
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| Photo: Fairfax County |
Included on the page is a way to request a membership package that will include a membership application form and a membership agreement and other info.
From the bike room page:
Membership Fee
The membership cost to use this facility is $75 a year, which includes a one-time $15 non-refundable fee for the security device and application processing. After the first year, users will be charged only $60 a year.
In anticipation of the opening of the Silver Line and Wiehle-Reston East Station, The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is offering special reduced rates for bike room memberships beginning now through March 1, 2014:
The room will be available to bicyclists starting on opening day of the Silver Line!
The membership cost to use this facility is $75 a year, which includes a one-time $15 non-refundable fee for the security device and application processing. After the first year, users will be charged only $60 a year.
In anticipation of the opening of the Silver Line and Wiehle-Reston East Station, The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is offering special reduced rates for bike room memberships beginning now through March 1, 2014:
- Before March 1, 2014:
- Early registration discounted annual membership rate (12 months): $45*
- Early registration two-year bundle (24 months): $75*
- After March 1, 2014
- Annual bike room membership (12 months): $75*
The room will be available to bicyclists starting on opening day of the Silver Line!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Trail Closed - You're on your own - Update: Trail now open
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| Wiehle Ave trail closed at Sunrise valley Dr |
There is no trail or sidewalk on the other side of Wiehle Ave. At least cyclists can ride in the road, although only the most confident are willing to ride on Wiehle Ave across the Toll Road bridge that at one point has 6 lanes in the northbound direction.
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| Wiehle Ave trail at Dulles Toll Rd bridge |
The closest alternative routes, either to the west on Reston Parkway or the east on the W&OD Trail, are about a three mile trip. Instead, pedestrians and some cyclists will ignore the trail closed signs. Since there is no construction underway now, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the route is passable. Once construction begins it likely be dangerous but without a viable option, most people will use the trail any way.
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| Wiehle Ave trail at Sunset Hills Rd |
The current construction is being done to facilitate people getting to the station. It's yet to be seen if after the construction these locations will be any better for pedestrians and bicyclists. They are to be avoided now, but some people can't avoid them; they don't have any viable options, and detours need to be provided. The rail station will be open soon. There will be much more pedestrian and bicycle traffic in the future at these locations, and construction related to redevelopment around the stations will be underway over the next several years.
Fairfax County, VDOT, and WMATA all need to do a better job of providing temporary access for pedestrians and bicyclists during construction. Those agencies wouldn't close a road or a rail line without providing a safe alternative. The same needs to be done for trails and sidewalks.
This article was cross-posted on Reston Patch
Update: Thanks to help from VDOT staff, the trail is now open. There was some temporary trail work that was becoming unstable which caused the trail to be closed. After VDOT was contacted about the problem, they quickly worked with field staff to make the necessary repairs and re-open the trail. We'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks VDOT for your rapid response!
Update2: We checked out the trail and one of the Sidewalk Closed signs had been removed but the other one was still in place. It didn't appear that any repairs had been done; someone likely just went out and moved the Sidewalk Closed sign to the side. I'm glad the trail is open, but am disappointed that it was closed with no notice and for no apparent reason. The work was likely being done by contractors for the Wiehle-Reston East station. Here's an idea: When a construction sign is placed on a site, especially a Trail or Sidewalk Closed sign, there should be contact information for whomever is dong the work. As it is, it's usually a mystery as to who is involved with work at construction sites.
Labels: wiehle ave, wiehle-reston east
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Wiehle-Reston East bike room photos
The bike room at the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station is completed. The room will hold over 200 bicycle and contain two small repair stations. There will be an annual fee of $75 to use the room, which works out to around 25 to 30 cents/day vs. $4.75/day for car parking. The room is located in the parking garage on the north side of the station, not far from the W&OD Trail. There will also be unsecured parking just outside the bike room and bike racks scattered throughout the plaza in front of the station. On the south side there is parking for 20 bicycles.Thanks to Maggie Parker of Comstock and photographer David Madison for these photos.
Labels: bike parking, wiehle station bike room, wiehle-reston east
