Bicycle improvements in the works

A shared bike lane on a service road along Little River Turnpike in Annandale.

Several projects are under way to improve bicycling in the Mason and Providence districts, according to plans outlined at a public meeting hosted by Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB) at the Mason Government Center Aug. 16.

Bicycle lanes will be added on Hummer Road (between Heritage Drive and Annandale/Gallows roads) and on Sleepy Hollow Road (between Columbia Pike and Bay Tree Lane), said Adam Lind, bicycle program coordinator at the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

Striping designated bike lanes will be done after the Virginia Department of Transportation completes repaving projects on those roads, which is expected to happen this summer or fall.

Lind outlined the Little River Turnpike Study, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors last month. The study includes $7.5 million for projects between the City of Fairfax and the City of Alexandria to improve connections and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

FCDOT is beginning the design phase, and construction should start in three years, Lind said.

The plan calls for a new shared-use path along the southern edge of Little River Turnpike between Wakefield Chapel Road and Old Columbia Pike and strategic connections on the north side. Crosswalks at the beltway intersection would be rerouted and improved.

In central Annandale, there would be a combination of shared use-paths and a rerouted bicycle path bypassing Little River Turnpike and extending along McWhorter Place and John Marr Drive.

Another FCDOT project, to fill in the missing gaps in sidewalks on Sleepy Hollow Drive, could include bike lanes or trails, Lind said.

In Providence District, he said the focus is on improving bicycle access to the Dun Loring and Tysons Corner Metro stations.

FABB Vice President Sonya Breehey described the organization’s long-term vision to create the Arlington Boulevard Trail, a 12-mile continuous network of trails and pathways along Route 50 between the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and the City of Fairfax.

There already are some bike trails along Arlington Boulevard, Breehey said, but there are some serious barriers, including Seven Corners and the beltway.

Bicycling along the corridor can be improved in the short-term by connecting existing trails, adding sidewalks, improving street crossings, and improving wayfinding. Longer-term fixes proposed by FABB include a new bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the beltway, integrating bike paths in plans to redevelop Seven Corners, and widening Route 50 to incorporate bike lanes.

According to Lind, new pedestrian bridge over Route 50 is not likely to happen.

Between Seven Corners and Fairfax Circle, bicycling along the Route 50 corridor could be improved by connecting off-road shared-use paths, service roads, and sidewalks, Breehey said. That would improve connections to the Cross County Trail and the W&OD Trail.

Fairfax County will soon start a project to install missing sidewalk connections on the north and south sides of Route 50 between Seven Corners and Fairview Park Drive. A new mixed off-road/shared-use path and service road along Route 50 is planned between Prosperity Road and Picket Road.

Breehey also noted that bicycling advocates strongly oppose VDOT’s proposal for widening Interstate 66 with a bike trail inside the sound wall next to traffic.

Twenty members of the Virginia General Assembly – including Sen. Dave Marsden, Del. Kaye Kory, and Del. Vivian Watts – sent a letter to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne Aug. 11 urging VDOT to scrap that plan and instead move the trail to the outside of the sound wall and make it at least 14 feet wide, rather than the proposed eight feet.

A trail inside the sound wall would mean “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,” the letter states.