Gallows Road study looks at improving safety
The Gallows Road Multimodal Study is exploring ways to make the seven-mile corridor safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users, while reducing traffic congestion.
Community engagement
Staff from the Fairfax County Transportation Department presented an update on the study at a virtual meeting on Sept. 19. They are hosting an in-person meeting today, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., in the Luther Jackson Middle School cafeteria.
FCDOT is examining existing conditions, soliciting input from the community, and analyzing various alternatives, said Project Manager Nanditha Paradkar. It will then recommend a preferred concept and conduct additional outreach.
The conceptual plan for the Gallows Road Multimodal Study, including the estimated cost and schedule, is expected to be released in spring 2024. The final report is due in summer 2024.
FCDOT is accepting comments on the study through Oct. 6. A survey will be posted online on the Gallows Road study website by the end of the week. The survey will include a map where residents will be able to pinpoint trouble spots and upload photos.
Traffic analysis
The study divides Gallows Road into three segments: Tysons to Dunn Loring, Dunn Loring to I-495, and I-495 to Annandale.
In addition to Gallows Road, the study is looking at several nearby roads, including Annandale Road, Fairview Park Drive, Williams Drive, Eskridge Road, Wellness Boulevard, Gatehouse Road, and Sandburg Street.
Data collection is a critical component, Paradkar said. FCDOT will collect data on traffic counts, travel times, signal timing, and the pedestrian, bicycle, and bus stop infrastructure.
An analysis of traffic data found some of the intersections with the biggest delays are at Little River Turnpike, Hummer Road, the beltway, Lee Highway, and Leesburg Pike.
Intersections with the longest queuing patterns are at Hummer Road, I-495, Gatehouse Road, Strawberry Lane, Cedar Lane, and Idylwood Road.
Improving access and providing safe crosswalks at the schools along Gallows Road is a hot-button issue, Paradkar noted, including Woodburn and Stenwood elementary schools and Jackson Middle School.
Insufficient sidewalks
To get a feel for the experience of pedestrians navigating Gallows Road, Timothy Kutz, a transportation planner at FDCOT, led a group of stakeholders – including HOA and community association leaders – on a walking tour last spring.
They found numerous impediments, including a lack of crosswalks and blocked sidewalks.
A similar exercise for bicyclists this summer found some easy-to-travel sections – such as the asphalt trail behind the Inova Center for Personalized Health – and many obstacles.
Along Gallows Road approaching I-495, there are no sidewalks or bike lanes, Kutz said. On the west side of Gallows approaching Hummer Road, there is no dedicated bike lane and the sidewalk is too narrow.
While the traffic analysis is quantitative, FDCOT used a qualitative metric to assess the pedestrian experience.
They adopted a scoring system to gauge the pedestrian level of comfort based on pathway and buffer widths; posted speed limits; and the presence of a parking lane, bike lane, and street trees.
FCDOT found most of Gallows Road is uncomfortable for pedestrians, due to the large number of lanes, the 35 mph speed limit, and narrow buffers between the sidewalk and roadway. The worst sections are at Columbia Pike, Annandale Road, the beltway, and Electric Avenue.
To address speeding, creating road diets by adding bike lanes would encourage drivers to slow down.
A similar examination for bicycling found the segment between Little River Turnpike and the beltway is the least comfortable for bicyclists. That area is plagued by the lack of dedicated bike facilities and vegetation hanging over the sidewalk.
Gallows Road is well served by Fairfax Connector and Metrobus routes, but many bus stops lack benches.
Crash hot spots
According to a safety assessment, there were 214 auto crashes along Gallows Road in 2018-22, including 10 with fatalities and severe injuries, FCDOT reports.
During that period, there were seven bike-involved crashes including two fatal or severe crashes. There were 28 pedestrian-involved crashes, 11 of them involving fatalities or severe injuries.
The areas on Gallows Road near Annandale Road, Maple Place, Columbia Pike, Thor Drive, Anderson Drive, Strawberry Lane, and the Yorktown Shopping Center are hot spots for crashes.
So glad to see the county looking into this!
Families want to be able to walk to schools and parks safely (competed sidewalks and crosswalks!), and cyclists want to get out of traffic to trailheads or the metro station (bike lanes prioritized to connect to transit or the W&OD, possibly with bridges over the busiest roads to make this work).
For the folks upset that people don’t use what we have: There are quite a few sidewalks and bike lanes in our area that are partially completed but then just dead-end before they get anywhere. Make a complete path to and from somewhere that doesn’t require cutting through someone’s yard or crossing a busy road without protection, and I think you’d see a lot of use.
+1 on that Lindsay. I just bought an ebike and for now, I can only limit riding to my neighborhood and parks that cut off. Would love complete paths to major arteries, then we’ll see a lot more bikers and walkers around with less traffic. The county should be flush with money from the high taxes on our homes, lets see the area transform into something amazing.
Spot on!!! Especially regarding bike lanes. Cyclists don’t want bike lanes as the primary means of connection – they’re using lanes to get to a trail. The lanes on Annandale and Ravensworth are a joke. Residents park their white vans in the lanes and never get ticketed. Drivers wander into the lane regularly. Reckless cyclists ride in traffic lane and ignore the lanes. A line on the road does not solve anything – it’s just the cheap alternative. We need to do better – especially if politicians want to welcome 1 million more illegals who never learned to drive properly.
In a word, SIDEWALKS. Just say No to bike lanes until sidewalks are done and impact determined.
Not enough utility for bike lanes that cause more traffic problems than solutions. Most people can’t use bikes to commute to work or for family activities or to even go and get groceries.
The bike commuters in my office actively share tips on how to avoid Gallows on the route to work (mostly the connection between W&OD trail and Tysons) – it’s known to that community as unsafe and constantly covered in gravel. This is a great corridor to update!
Road Diet! AAAGHHHH! The last thing Gallows needs is a road diet. Gallows needs all the capacity it already has. Go ahead, add bike lanes or a shared use path, but DO NOT eliminate lanes of travel. Also, DO NOT lower the speed limit. 35 is a reasonable speed for a 2 or 3 lane in each direction road.
I’d tend to agree that 35mph is not an unreasonable speed for a 2-3 lane road. But the segment of Gallows Rd. between Hummer and the Beltway rarely sees cars going that slowly. And with no traffic lights at intersections on this stretch, all the left-turners to/from residential neighborhoods can only pray they don’t get run over. It’s WAY past time FfxCo stations a few policemen REGULARLY along this stretch; I guarantee the fines they’ll derive from speeding and aggressive driving will more than offset the police personnel costs.
Can we do Backlick road too, please? The few sidewalks it has are like 2 feet wide and right next to traffic, which is usually going 45-50MPH.
They have already done this in Arlington, where they converted Wilson blvd to one lane in each direction, plus left turn lanes, side walks, and bike lanes. I commuted on that road when it was converted and it didn’t really affect the car traffic much.
Take a visit to traffic court some time soon. Multiple cases of unlicensed illegals get let off the hook with a verbal apology and a promise to learn to drive. Yes this is really happening. Can we do more to teach our guests to be better community members? Not pack an entire work crew of 20 people into a 2 bedroom house in a residential neighborhood and destroy the property value of an entire block (w. Springfield). Not dump your trash along the street so it flows into our parks (Americana Road that has to have army of volunteers clean it). We can do better.
My friend, you are in for years and years of the same. A regulation or law with no teeth is a suggestion. We can’t even enforce codes around here since the commonwealth attorney bats for the other team.
I ride a bike every day and avoid Gallows road at all costs. It is about the worst road around here to ride a bike on.