Culmore residents: Route 7 is unsafe
Residents of the Culmore community in Bailey’s Crossroads take their life into their hands when they try to cross or walk along Leesburg Pike (Route 7).
The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) and CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, have been pushing state and local transportation officials to make improvements on Route 7 to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
To strengthen their case, CSG and CASA surveyed Culmore residents about their safety concerns.
The results of the survey, released June 10, show residents, many of whom are immigrants without cars, overwhelmingly do not feel safe walking, biking, or getting to transit. They cite crime, dangerous driving, poor lighting, not enough time to cross the street, and the lack of connected sidewalks and safe crossing options.
Both VDOT and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation have identified the Culmore section of Route 7 as a high-risk corridor based on years of data showing high numbers of fatalities and serious injuries.
Related story: Culmore residents join the fight for safe streets
Here are some key findings from the survey of Culmore residents:
• 67 percent of respondents said they do not feel safe. Only 7.5 percent said they felt safe and 2.5 percent felt very safe. Women reported feeling unsafe 24 percent more than men.
• Nearly 94 percent of respondents reported crime being a concern and 84 percent cited inadequate lighting when walking, biking, or waiting for a bus.
• 83 percent feel drivers don’t obey traffic rules or the 40 mph speed limit.
• 75 percent reported there aren’t enough bike lanes or paths to ride safely.
• More than half complained about the lack of continuous sidewalks and said bus stops are not safe or easy to get to.
• Two-thirds of respondents said pedestrian signals don’t give them enough time to cross the street.
• When asked what would make the area safer, 36 percent said better lighting, 21 percent said specialized crossings, and 14 percent said greater police presence.
CASA and CSG and their partners also conducted a walking audit during the evening rush hour on May 5 to observe first-hand the problems faced by pedestrians.
They observed cars blocking the crosswalk on Leesburg Pike at Glen Carlyn Drive, approximately 15 people attempting to cross Route 7 midblock, and a family of seven with several children on scooters crossing at the uncontrolled Glen Carlyn Drive intersection.
They also saw several people walking in the road and cutting through the Liberty gas station between Magnolia Avenue and the shopping plaza at 5912 Leesburg Pike where there is no sidewalk.
Nearly everyone participating in the audit felt the traffic signals require pedestrians to wait too long and that there isn’t enough time to cross. At the Glen Carlyn/Route 7 intersection, CSG and CASA representatives saw a disabled man with a limp trying to hustle across to make the light.
They also saw a cyclist riding along Route 7 on the sidewalk narrowly avert being struck crossing Glen Forest Drive in the crosswalk by a left-turning driver. They also observed someone riding an e-scooter in the westbound travel lane on Route 7. The road doesn’t have bike lanes in the study area.
Ultimately, the report recommends Route 7 be redesigned as a walkable, bike-friendly, transit boulevard as part of the Envision Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit project.
Meanwhile, the report calls for the following improvements to be undertaken by fall 2020:
• Lower the speed limit as an interim measure and add driver speed feedback signs to help reduce speeding in this area
• Install a temporary, in-street sidewalk connection using Jersey barriers from Magnolia Avenue to the sidewalk in front of Bakersfield Rugs at 5928 Leesburg Pike
• Increase shoulder width through lane restriping
• Create a temporary midblock crossing to reduce the distance between crosswalks.
• Implement a traffic safety education campaign in Culmore.
• Provide leading pedestrian intervals and more time to cross Route 7 at signals.
Related story: Transportation officials consider solutions for pedestrian safety on Route 7
Longer-term recommendations the groups want to see implemented within the next two or three years:
• Permanently reduce the speed limit on Route 7
• Add a signalized crossing across Route 7 at Glen Carlyn Drive/Magnolia Avenue.
• Provide crosswalks on all legs of the Charles Street/Glen Forest Drive/Route 7 and Glen Carlyn Road/Route 7 intersections.
• Stripe high-visibility crosswalks across all side streets and driveways along Route 7.
• Provide brighter pedestrian-scale lighting.
Is the road not safe, or is illegal behavior creating unsafe conditions?
This type of fallacy reminds me of how “the pandemic caused” this and that. Coronavirus caused people to to contract coronavirus. The government response to coronavirus caused everything else.
Maybe walk to a crosswalk. My mom taught me that when I was a little girl. Jaywalking is dangerous and selfish.
The problem is the crosswalks are so far apart it is very inconvenient to walk half a mile to a crosswalk. Once at a crosswalk the light takes a long time and after that, while crossing, there is still traffic turning.
Also, good job interjecting your unrelated politics into the comments. It is really helpful to know your views on the coronavirus response while commenting on street safety.
I thought the fallacy analogy was accurate!
Agree with Christine!
If they took the time to walk to the corner and cross at the light they wouldn’t be taking their lives in their hands. Walking in the middle of the road is dangerous.
Totally agree. Total disregard for the rules of the road. Regarding crime: I have a feeling it is Culmore residents committing crimes on other Culmore residents. I don’t believe those committing the crimes are being bussed in from Maryland, Washington DC or even other parts of Virginia. Oh by the way, I used to work in the area. No more. I try to avoid driving through this area as well.
This article is a bit confusing, particularly this sentence:
“Meanwhile, the report calls for the following improvements to be undertaken by fall 2020:”
First, because as of today, it’s almost summer 2022.
Second, even if the author intended to write “fall 2022”, knowing how slow state and local government moves in Mason District, there is no way all the requested action items will occur by fall 2022.
Truth is, if even one of the requested action items occur by fall 2022 I would be very surprised by the relatively fast action by the relevant state and/or local government agencies.
Disagree with Christine and Kay, do they even live/walk/bike in that community?
Their comments are typical of people who have never done much functionally as a VRU.
Their opinions reek of classism and lack of empathy.
VRU is Vulnerable Road User. Had to look that up. As a Culmore resident, I find drivers in the area to be VRUs because pedestrians completely disregard traffic laws. Police should be stopping this folks and issuing citations, but I’ve literally never seen it happen. I’ve only seen the police drive right by them. This type of non-enforcement leads to folks continuing to break the law.
Fences had to be installed on Route 50 and a special pedestrian light in the middle of the block at an opening in the fence to keep people from jaywalking. It is not only a drivers responsibility to watch for pedestrians and follow rules of the road it is also the pedestrians responsibility.
If you look at the photo in the article, you can SEE THE CROSSWALK just in front of the purple truck. Yet people with small children are running across the street in busy traffic. I see this happen all the time. This is a perfect example of people not taking responsibility for their own actions and then wanting tax payer money!
if 100% of roads in Bailey’s were a crosswalk they’d still find a way to jaywalk. just the way it is
I looked at the CSG report on their website https://smartergrowth.net/safe-streets-for-biking-and-walking/report-the-danger-immigrants-face-crossing-the-streets-of-culmore/
The picture on this article is from that report. The caption in the picture on the report says there is no crosswalk at Glen Carlyn and 7. That is not accurate. There is a crosswalk there as Randy points out. Look at 6051 Leesburg Pike on google maps. You can clearly see where the family is crossing and the crosswalk is in the background. Unmistakable as you can see the big Culmore sign in the picture next to the Stein Sperling Law Offices. I know exactly where that is which is why I checked.
One would figure that if CSG took the time to write a report, they could at least omit glaring errors in the caption of one of their featured pictures. It makes the entire report questionable.
Cassie, you are correct. There is nothing “Smart” about the Smart Growth Coalition. They have proven to support most development as long as the developers are happy. Ignoring environmental impacts and residents isn’t that smart. They should be called the “Pro-Growth Coalition”. Meanwhile no one bothers to coordinate these lofty goals with VDOT who can’t keep up with the roads they have already. Their goal is to push drivers through as fast as they can. So much for the “walkable” communities that are being built at all costs. If this was a serious effort, this county would take back control of the roads. This area was not built on a grid so planners are going out of their way to contort reality to make it so. Instead of village centers they are foused on massive retail & office building, you know, the ones with NO tenants.
Wow. The people who live in Culmore do not feel safe, and Fa. Co. responds with lowering the speed limit for people driving through there. How about moving faster on better lighting and sidewalks and more police patrols to help them feel safer. Fa. Co. and all of these citizen groups always respond to a problem by lowering the speed limit even when that is not the main problem because it is easy, doesn’t cost much and they can tell people they responded. It appears with 93 percent saying they do not feel safe from crime that more needs to be done in that area.
Carl, there is a very easy way for Fairfax County to respond to concerns from people who do not feel safe from crime.
Simply put up signs declaring the area is a “No Crime Zone.” Problem solved.
Tear down that community, it’s overcrowded and dirty
Agree. These citizen groups cited in the article include links for how to hire workers without citizenship papers. If we don’t like the laws, there is a way to change them. Skirting existing laws including lack of enforcement gets us to where we are now. As Carl said, 93% don’t feel safe. That’s because crime is skyrocketing because we’ve attacked the police.
WOW. SMH.
What a disgusting comment! Shame on you.
Hear hear!
I grew up in culmore and trust me when I say it gets packed during certain hours causing cars to block the walkways in those intersections.
Also cars speed all the time in that area, the light only last about 30 secs no more that is not a 30 sec walk if there are more then 20 people crossing at a time which is the case culmore has a lot of residents who live in that area who require walking as transportation these cars driving in the area are not from locals. So yes it would be nice if we put more saftey stops or side walks/ walkways to help the residents of culmore to feel safer!
Btw that picture where the people are crossing there is no walkway to get to that restaurant or gas station in order to get to those places you basically are walking in the street and I can tell you that because i was just there and I lived in culmore for 20 years.
There is not a crosswalk there. There is a crosswalk behind them.
If the light lasts 30 seconds and that’s not enough, making it last 45 seconds should cost $0. Then again, pedestrians could just wait until the next signal. But I suppose that’s asking too much.
The irresponsible people driving are related to the irresponsible people walking.
If you’ve lived there for 20 years, congratulations.
First off, there is a traffic cost implicated in raising the time from 30 to 45 seconds. You may not think 15 seconds makes a difference but there is an exponential relationship in stop-start traffic. So this change is not “free”.
Second, the “irresponsible people driving” are moving in a machine that is 52% likely to cause serious injury or death if it strikes someone at 50mph. Pedestrians cannot do the inverse to cars. Blaming the auto-oriented nature of our landscape on the fault of pedestrians “irresponsibility” is a mindset that just perpetuates our issues with pedestrian fatality.
This issue could be solved if we focused on alternative modes of transportation instead of thinking how everything around us relates to individuals’ cars.
Build rapid transit in Fairfax County. Build transit-oriented development in Fairfax County.
A pedestrian jaywalking is 100% more likely to cause a completely preventable accident.
I think raising the time from 30 to 45 seconds would result in negligible cost, especially when compared to the other recommendations from the “citizen?” groups and commenters. I believe Trent’s point is that marginal tweaks are better than sweeping changes when most of the issues appear to stem from poor decision making. (That is funny that there is a crosswalk in the picture.)
I am generally against rapid transit, as I’ve seen an irrefutable increase in crime correlated with mass transit expansion in the three metro areas where I’ve lived, not including DC. No amount of empathy-shaming can convince me otherwise. Rapid transit is also expensive and inefficient when managed by the government. I would advocate for enforcement of existing laws including jaywalking citations. Study that for a year and I bet you would see fewer pedestrian involved accidents. It may be inconvenient to walk a couple blocks to a crosswalk. My commute is over an hour. Life is tough. My 2 cents.
As someone who comes across this section everyday. There are a couple issues one people are constantly jaywalking. Crosswalks were made for a reason. Two I have been at a red light and observed as as people are crossing there are cars that are inpatient and will turn left at the crosswalks and they will literally run it not caring thats it’s the pedestrians turn !! Also that sign that says DO NOT TURN ON RED. Besides the bus stop next to the church turning on glen carlyn rd needs to be placed beside the light above not next to the bus sign were cars will either ignore/ miss. Police presence would also be appreciate, while all this is happening they are no where to be found.
Pedestrian safety is an increasing issue on Fairfax County roadways, especially on the major arterials such as Rt. 7, Rt. 236, and Rt. 50. These roadways were designed to be 4-6 lane highways with limited pedestrian accommodation back when northern Virginia was less populated and, frankly, cars were king. That model is not sustainable going forward. On that stretch of Rt. 7 there is almost a half mile between crosswalks. Between the crosswalks, the landscape includes convenience stores, groceries, many small retail outlets, churches, schools, and bus stops – places where a community which relies greatly on walking would like to go. In essence, the current design requires residents to work significantly against human nature and to go far out of their way in order to allow cars to move from one end of the county to the other.
Complicating all of this is the incredible poor infrastructure along the roadway at this point. One cannot literally walk on the north/east side of the highway on a continuous sidewalk – a car repair shop has erected a fence, forcing pedestrians to walk directly into a lane of traffic. On the south/west side the sidewalk is also not continuous – one corner of an intersection frequently ponds, requiring walkers to skirt the travel lanes of the highway if they don’t want to step through mud. The crosswalks that do exist are not lined up well with the intersections (a common problem in this county). Bus stops are located mid-block in some cases, forcing pedestrians to walk far out of their way to get home.
I applaud CSG and CASA for their efforts to highlight this situation. Citizens who say that the pedestrians should just take the long walk to the crosswalk must not live or walk in this area; drivers who decry reducing speed limits (the single most effective way to reduce pedestrian fatalities) are not the only users of the road – pedestrians count as well. The current infrastructure, speed limits, traffic signaling, and land use patterns are all choices we made as a community. We can change them to save lives, as well.
The pedestrian blaming in some of the comments is disheartening. We are talking about people, family members, and friends dying and being seriously injured just trying to go about their daily business and get around their neighborhood.
In the picture, the family is crossing at an intersection without crosswalks, which is perfectly legal as is crossing mid-block if there are no crosswalks. To walk to the signal in the background of the picture or the other traffic signal at Charles St. is the equivalent of 3 blocks or more. To a driver, that may seem no big deal, but that distance can be a real challenge if you have mobility issues, kids in tow, carrying groceries, or trying to catch the bus so you’re not late to work.
VDOT can do better to make this stretch safer for everyone, and that includes drivers. Providing high visibility crosswalks, adding more signalized crossing options closer together, and completing missing sidewalk connections creates a safer environment for pedestrians, and a more predictable one for drivers.
Sonya, I agree that we should be more accommodating to pedestrians. High visibility crosswalks seem to me to be a minimal investment in the safety of our immigrant community.
94% say crime is a problem and 14% want greater police presence.
So they want the law enforced without law enforcement.
The jaywalking and erratic driving is starting to make more sense.
So many of these comments are disheartening. If residents in that area feel unsafe they have a right to have this addressed. People complain about “jaywalking” but even the crosswalks in that area are unsafe because of how drivers speed, ignore the lights and try to cut off pedestrians. I live near Culmore and drivers around the area and route 7 have little regard for the crosswalks which encourages jaywalking.
There are so many places where sidewalks could be added along this stretch and also flashing crosswalk signals, etc like they have on the Arlington side of Columbia Pike. It is CRIMINAL that Penny doesn’t do something about this issue. She approves all these developments that adds more cars and congestion but doesn’t require more sidewalks and streetscaping. The fact a popeyes was approved for that area with no parking is INSANE.
Penny only cares about keeping the developers happy. She never makes decisions that are in the best interest of her constituents. I don’t understand why she keeps getting re-elected.
“Jaywalking” is a term created by the automobile industry in the 1920s at a time when their products began killing children and adults who used the streets and roads as they had for centuries: to play, to cross the street to get to a store, to trade, travel on foot, etc. So when people like the commenters here use that term to slur individuals trying to cross the street without having to go a mile out of their way in the blazing sun so that drivers are not slightly inconvenienced, they’re upholding a transportation paradigm that, together with our asphalt-obsessed DOTs and zoning laws which forbid density and mandate car parking spaces, has created this nightmare landscape we find ourselves in where traffic chokes our roads, transit is not prioritized, exhaust pollutes our air, pedestrians get killed, you need a car to travel everywhere, walking and biking are dangerous, and drivers speed everywhere in large cars. Great job commenters!
Could not have said that better. Thanks David.
The current form of transportation infrastructure is madness, and the best way to solve these issues is to restructure. I know many will claim this as “unrealistic” or “impossible” due to red-tape and individual dispositions, but our current method of band-aid quick fixes such as high visibility crosswalks, lowered speed limits, and increased police presence are marginally effective at best. Total waste of time and resources at worst. Should we just throw up our hands and say “oh well”? Blame VDOT? Blame NIMBYS? Blame Penny Gross? We need actual change and these miniscule gestures at solving an increasingly dangerous transportation landscape are not going to cut it.
We need to think outside the box and take a holistic approach to transportation planning.
Build rapid transit in Fairfax County. Build transit-oriented development in Fairfax County.
I’m a little dubious as to the etymology of the term ‘jaywalking,’ which some sources say started out as jay driving, which referred to reckless operation of horse-drawn carriages. It was not created by an evil auto industry intent on killing people. The auto industry responded to what people wanted; a faster way to get from point a to point b, and so roads were built to accommodate the cars and people bought the cars because they wanted them. Rules developed as the road network and traffic grew, and during the formation of those rules woe to the pedestrian. When the auto industry actually swayed the country in the unenviable position we are in now occurred in the 50’s, when the federal government was given a choice: improve the railroad infrastructure or create the interstate highway system. The auto and truck industry obviously won that battle, so here we are with an auto-centric infrastructure.
Like many on this thread I drive and bicycle through Culmore several days a week and see people at the intersection of Glen Carlyn and Rt. 7 waiting patiently for the cross signal. I personally would not cross anywhere else on that stretch, but I am just traveling through, not living there. No one single entity is to blame here; it is obvious that more crossings should be made available, additional sidewalks should be installed, and drivers need to pay more attention (get off your phones!) and yield to pedestrians. Pedestrians right now are at a disadvantage, and it would serve them well to try and abide by the present rules and use the available cross walks, lobby for change, and be as defensive as possible when traversing that area.
You’re welcome, David.
How our streets are designed has serious impacts to the safety of those traveling inside of a vehicle and even worse impacts to those traveling by foot or bike. In Fairfax County last year there were 48 driving related fatalities and 14 of those were pedestrians. If death doesn’t make you sad, just know that there were over 9958 driving incidents that resulted in injury or property damage significant enough to be reported. The point is our roads are dangerous for everyone. Making road infrastructure adjustments can save lives and prevent injury. It’s confounding that anyone would be against safety.
It’s a question of bang for the buck. Throwing money at people who completely disregard laws won’t get you a reasonable ROI. It’ll just make you feel good about yourself. Look at the state of the economy as a case study. Lots of people wasting money on pet projects and we’re all worse off
The irony is, any real infrastructure improvement would be called “gentrification” and all the yuppies be damned. Immigrant community would be priced out as developers bought and razed those dilapidated Cold War DoD funded buildings — turned apartment complexes. You’d have another Merrifield in no time with young lawyers and consultants paying 3k in rent for a white shoebox billed as “open concept.” Careful what you wish for.
There are a lot of great comments and posts here on this thread. Thank you all for your contributions. I think this is a serious problem we’re having and measures need to be taken immediately. The question is how fast can we get VDOT and Fairfax County to move? And what actions can be implemented right away? Nobody wants to wait three more years for more studies because people will get killed or injured on this stretch of route seven that we call the West End of Bailey’s Crossroads. It would be interesting to find out what emergency powers the Fairfax County Board of supervisors has the ability to invoke to create some order here. It is unfortunate that we never see the police in enforcing the speed limit. The speed limit here is 40 miles an hour but we all know that many people are driving 50 and 60 all hours of the day and night. It is literally complete lawlessness. There are very few speed limit signs on this part of Leesburg Pike and the ones that are up are very small. There are other common sense things that need to be done that The county can afford to do now. A speed camera or red light cameras or whatever is legal to add should also be added here. There should definitely be permanent signs that flash how fast drivers are going. There are definitely not enough crosswalks here in the West End. There needs to be some of those new yellow pedestrian crossing signs that have flashers on them. We are still starting to see those go up all around the county and in Arlington county, like on Carlin Springs Road. We also have some pedestrian crossing signs on Columbia Pike and Tyler Street. Alexandria city has been lowering speed limits on Seminary Road and Quaker Lane and other areas to help alleviate the speeding problem. Falls Church city slows down route 7 to 25 miles an hour. Why can’t we do this here now?
For a better quality of life for everyone, design cities for pedestrians. Cars ruin cities. NoVa is no longer the bucolic countryside some remember. Redesign this heavily urbanized area for the convenience and safety of pedestrians. It’s better for everyone.
That would turn 66 and 50 into a parking lot. There’s not enough room, until we are all issued rechargeable Tesla helicopters.
You, dear sir, belong in Montana.
Regards.
Danbury Squiggles-Moist, Esq.
Law Offices of Squiggles-Moist