Groups launch Safe Streets campaign

The Coalition for Smarter Growth and the immigrant advocacy group CASA are launching the Safe Streets for Bailey’s Crossroads campaign. The goal is to engage and organize the local community in pushing for improved access for walking, biking, and transit.

The Mobility Fund awarded the groups a $50,000 grant to implement the Safe Streets campaign.

Leesburg Pike (Route 7) in Bailey’s Crossroads is one of the most dangerous corridors in Northern Virginia for pedestrian accidents. A woman walking on the road in a place without a safe sidewalk was struck by a car on Dec. 13 and died days later.  

Related story: Pedestrian dies after being struck on Leesburg Pike

The Bailey’s Crossroads community is home to a large immigrant population where many residents rely on walking, biking, and using the bus to get to work and other activities. The main arterial roads have heavy high-speed traffic, few safe crossing options, and bus stops that aren’t near crosswalks.

While the Fairfax County Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation identified Route 7 in Bailey’s Crossroads as a high-risk corridor, they have not made a significant investment in safety improvements.

The organizations working on the Safe Streets campaign – which also includes the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling and Fairfax Families for Safe Streets – will reach out to county elected officials and staff and VDOT to expedite urgently needed near-term safety fixes.

They will also seek a permanent redesign of Route 7 for improved safety, taking advantage of plans for a bus rapid transit route in the corridor.

Related story: Leesburg Pike unsafe for pedestrians

“At CASA, we see our role as empowering community members to win positive change in their communities,” said Eduardo Zelaya, regional lead organizer for Virginia. “We’ve worked with the Culmore community and the region on immigration and health issues, and we see street safety as a critical health and safety concern for our residents.”

CASA member Jose Castillo, an immigrant from El Salvador who lives in Culmore, says he takes a risk every time he walks along Leesburg Pike to buy food, do laundry, and get to work.

“As part of the community,” Castillo says, “I raise my voice with the sole objective of safeguarding the physical safety of people who travel on this road by eliminating and reducing risk factors.”