We strongly support the Pedestrian Master Plan draft and commend the plan’s holistic approach to achieving pedestrian safety and comfort across the county. In particular, we appreciate that the plan acknowledges pedestrian planning as a critical tool to meet our goals around health, equity, accessibility, climate, and land use, and that we need to think about these policies as interconnected.
Category: Safe Streets for Biking and Walking
TAKE ACTION: Make Connecticut Ave safer now!
Following a horrific crash, our partners at Cleveland Park Smart Growth are urging DDOT to limit Connecticut Ave to four lanes and reinstate parking during rush hour, until the street is redesigned with protected bike lanes. The city hasn’t acted since ANC 3C passed a resolution last year urging DDOT to reinstate rush-hour parking to make the street safer.
TESTIMONY: Supporting the Proposed Photo Speed Monitoring Devices Code Amendment
CSG strongly supports the proposed photo speed monitoring code amendment and urges your approval and timely implementation of the program.
Help make it safer to walk and bike to the West Falls Church Metro
The rescheduled West Falls Church Active Transportation Study community meetings are this week. If you walk, bike or take Metro in the area, please join one of two meetings to weigh in on pedestrian and bicycle improvements for Route 7, Shreve, Haycock, and nearby neighborhoods.
PRESENTATION: Creating Community Blvds & Avenues
We have the design and engineering tools to re-create arterials into dynamic streets that are safer and serve community uses like local businesses. We know that arterials make up a large share of serious crashes and deaths. But these conversions are rare. Why are they so rare? A new idea about how to change that.
PRESENTATION: Advocacy Efforts to Make Arterials Safe for All Users
How do we make arterials safe for all users?
CSG/CASA Comments: Culmore Pedestrian Safety Improvements
The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) and CASA write to provide comments (attached and below) to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) on recommendations for pedestrian safety improvements in the Culmore community presented at the Aug. 4th public meeting.
Help make sure Route 7 safety improvements happen in Culmore!
Wow! Over a hundred residents, including school-aged children, attended the Route 7-Culmore Pedestrian Safety public meeting demanding that Fairfax County and VDOT make it safer for their families and neighbors to walk and bike in the community.
On the positive side, officials announced at the meeting the possibility of several safety enhancements – a speed study, a crossing study, and potential sidewalk connections. However, we are very concerned these studies will take years to implement and that the short-term fixes they’ve already done to Route 7 are totally inadequate to truly keep people safe now.
Please email your comments before the August 26 deadline demanding more robust short-term fixes and asking that they prioritize and fund the longer-term projects ASAP.
Community feedback shared during the meeting was very much aligned with the findings of the walkability survey conducted by CSG and CASA in Spring 2022. Residents living in the Culmore community overwhelmingly feel unsafe walking and biking along Route 7 citing poor lighting, dangerous driving, and the lack of connected sidewalks, bike infrastructure, and safe crossing options as core problems.
We are urging several quick fixes that are critical for making the area safer now while longer-term plans are developed, including:
- Installing a temporary, in-street sidewalk connection with jersey barriers or flex posts until a permanent one can be built in front of the gas station where the woman was struck and killed in December
- Reprogramming the traffic signals to give pedestrians a head start and more time to cross Route 7 at all intersections in the corridor
- Lowering the speed limit and adding driver speed feedback signs
- Adding more high visibility crosswalks across Route 7 as well as side streets and driveways along the corridor.
- Providing brighter pedestrian-scale lighting along Route 7 and in the neighborhoods
You can email comments to VDOT and Fairfax County using our action form here asking for these needed quick fixes and safety improvements. Personalizing the email with your own experiences would make an even stronger statement. Comments are being accepted through this Friday, August 26.
All About Thrive #5: Thrive, more housing options, and safe streets are all popular
Recent Data for Progress polls about Thrive 2050, constructing new homes, and redesigning roads for safety over speed showed majority support for all three.