Sleepy Hollow Road residents not convinced of need for sidewalks

Mason Supervisor Penny Gross and Fairfax County Department of Transportation Director Tom Biesiadny address a meeting on the Sleepy Hollow sidewalk project.

Despite a series of changes to make the proposed Sleepy Hollow Road Walkway Project more palatable to residents, several people angrily denounced the project at a community meeting April 22.

Among their complaints: New sidewalks wouldn’t address traffic or speeding problems. Very few people walk or bicycle on Sleepy Hollow and sidewalks won’t change that. Requiring people to park on side streets will be less safe. And the roadway will be less aesthetically pleasing.

“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback since the last meeting” in October 2018. “We listened to a lot of suggestions,” said Mason Supervisor Penny Gross, noting that the plans have been revised to accommodate concerns raised at previous meetings.

The objective of the project is to fill in the missing links along the existing sidewalks on Sleepy Hollow to provide connections to schools, parks, and recreational facilities and to add ADA-compliant ramps and crosswalks, said project manager Mark VanZandt with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

New sidewalks would be constructed on the eastern side of Sleepy Hollow Road between Dearborn Drive and Malbrook Drive and on the western side between Marlo Drive and Aspen Lane.

VanZandt  outlined the changes since the October meeting, which he also outlined at a series of small group sessions during the winter:

• There would be three refuge islands – to help people cross the street – at Bay Tree Lane, Kennedy Lane, and Castle Place.
• There would be just one retaining wall instead of three as previously proposed. The retaining wall would be in front of Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church. As a result, the large beech tree on that property would be saved. The height of the wall would be reduced, and it could have a textured or colored finish so it’s not solid concrete.
• Many fewer trees would be taken down. As presented in April 2018, the project called for the elimination of 111 trees with a diameter greater than six inches and 165 smaller trees and bushes. Under the revised plan, 28 trees with a six-inch diameter and 72 smaller trees and bushes would be eliminated.
• To save more trees, the sidewalk would be moved into the parking lane, and the sidewalk would be narrowed from eight to six feet (or five feet in some areas). The buffer between the road and sidewalk would be narrowed from four to two feet.
• As a trade-off, eliminating the parking lane means people would have to park on side streets.
• A refuge island that had been proposed near the swimming pools has been removed. Instead a “bump out” would be added on that side of the road to make it easier to walk across Sleepy Hollow.
• Between Marlo Drive and Congressional School, the lane on the west side opposite the school entrance would be narrowed to 11 feet. That would still comply with VDOT standards and the traffic pattern would not be changed. A crosswalk would be added at that spot, too.
• Another crosswalk would be added at Carolyn Drive.

In response to the complaints about speeding, Van Zandt said refuge islands and changes in the curb line will have a traffic calming effect. A raised median island should slow traffic by 4 miles per hour, and a curb extension would reduce speeds by 1 to 3 mph.

According to VanZandt, a total of 53 properties would be affected by the county’s need to take land, but most of those takings would be for temporary construction easements.

Sixteen properties would be subject to permanent land rights. The largest residential acquisition would be at Bay Tree Lane and would involve 302 square feet to replace the driveway ramp with an ADA-compliant ramp. The other permanent land takings would be less than 50 square feet.

The project would cost around $6 million, including design, land acquisition, and construction.

The project design is expected to be completed by January 2020. Construction would start in spring 2021 and would be completed by November 2021.

Several people questioned the validity of the entire project, calling its $6 million cost a waste of taxpayer money to tear up people’s yards, take down trees, and make the road narrower when it isn’t likely to increase pedestrian use.

VanZandt refuted the claims of audience members that “no one wants sidewalks.”

“There is a significant amount of people who do want a facility there,” he said, and more people would be expected to walk along Sleepy Hollow if there is a safe place to walk.

FCDOT received 109 comments since the last meeting, VanZandt said, including 50 negative and 39 positive comments. “It’s not a landslide [against sidewalks] as one might infer from the last meeting. A lot of people like this project.”

“We’re trying very hard to make our community more accessible to everybody,” said Gross. “We want to make major roads more safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.”