Last week I joined the Gum Springs community demanding a safer Richmond Highway. The coffin included in the protest is dramatic, but captures just how dangerous our roads are. Fairfax County continues to experience high rates of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries with 10 people killed already this year.
Category: Safe Streets for Biking and Walking
Action Alert: here’s your chance to tell elected officials how you travel & what to build
The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) wants to hear from you as they update their long range transportation plan, TransAction. Take a short survey to let them know about your travel modes and preferences.
The survey also includes two important questions about the transportation future we want. For Northern Virginia – and for our children and grandchildren – we need one that is more sustainable, healthier, safer, and where we cut the emissions that are fueling climate change.
NVTA is a regional funding agency for transportation projects. Unfortunately, their long wishlist of road expansion projects included in past TransAction plans won’t get us to our urgent climate targets – even with the important transition to electric vehicles. Northern Virginia needs more walkable, bikeable, and transit-accessible communities – and the transportation projects that support this vision.
Thus far, NVTA has not seriously considered the option of improving our transportation network and access to jobs by bringing jobs, housing, and services closer together in walkable communities. So, when they ask about “reducing congestion” or “improving access to jobs”, the agency is generally viewing this through the lens of making traffic faster through more road widening. The science shows widened roads attract more driving and fill up in as little as five years.
Parting thoughts
This time the TransAction plan has to be different, especially if we are going to slash the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation that are contributing to climate change. Studies at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments have repeatedly shown that the best performing approach to transportation is a network of walkable, transit-oriented communities.
Stay tuned as we campaign for a better TransAction plan.
Take Action: How should we live in 2050?
Do you want to be able to easily walk, bike, or hop on a bus? Wouldn’t it be great if it were easy to find a great place to live that doesn’t stretch your budget? How can we make sure our neighborhoods are resilient in the face of climate change?
For nearly two years, Montgomery County has been working on a new general plan called Thrive Montgomery 2050, a blueprint for how and where the county will grow over the next 30+ years. Now, it’s up to the County Council whether or not to maintain and strengthen the Planning Board’s bold vision.
Send an email to your councilmembers to support Thrive 2050!
We believe the Planning Board has done a great job embracing smart growth as the most sustainable and equitable way for Montgomery County to grow and provide opportunities for everyone. On its own, Thrive doesn’t change any laws, but it will set the policy agenda for the County Council, influence the Planning Department’s work program, and impact all future master plans. It’s absolutely critical for the future!
Use this form to tell your councilmembers that you support a vision for Montgomery County that is more affordable, equitable, sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous. You can read the Planning Board’s draft of Thrive and learn more about the plan here, and learn about CSG’s Thrive 2050 campaign here.
CSG comments on Plan Langston (Lee) Highway study
Dear Ms. Alfonso-Ahmed,
The Coalition for Smarter Growth appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Land Use Scenario Analysis (LUSA) shared with the community over the spring as part of the Plan Lee Highway visioning process.
CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. The Lee Highway (future Langston Boulevard) corridor provides a great opportunity to plan for a future that accommodates new growth and development in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and meets the community’s current and future transportation, housing, and livability needs.
CSG offers the following comments on the LUSA:
- The additional heights and greater potential for consolidation as part of the LUSA’s Scenario B will help facilitate more affordable multifamily housing in the corridor and help to produce more housing overall.
- Providing bonus heights to reach the maximum heights shown in Scenario B could be achieved in exchange for committed affordable units within those buildings. Similar zoning incentives are utilized elsewhere in the County. The Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Form Based Code allows for a bonus of either two or six stories for provision of affordable housing, and other RA zoning districts within the County are allowed up to 60 feet of additional height for projects with 100% committed affordable units.
- The edges of the commercial areas along the corridor are ideal places for Missing Middle Housing as a transition to the lower-density residential areas. As presented in the LUSA, however, it is unclear how the County plans to regulate development within the “two-family to low-scale multifamily residential” and areas of up to 4 stories in height. This lack of clarity has caused concern among some neighborhood residents. Since the Missing Middle Study is expected to include an analysis of this type of housing, it would be helpful for the county to conduct additional community outreach and discussions regarding the specifics of these transition areas once that study is further along.
To assuage concerns, the Preliminary Concept Plan should make clear that transition zones will be established to step down heights to nearby neighborhoods and include goals that these transition zones are expected to achieve and the potential forms that the development could take. It should further make clear that any action to move toward a possible redevelopment in these areas would be voluntary and that no forced acquisition or eminent domain will be a part of that process.
- The East Falls Church (EFC) area plan should be updated with the higher allowable heights and transition zones consistent with the rest of the corridor. The current EFC area plan does not allow for an adequate amount of development for a key Metro station that will also serve the future Route 7 Bus Rapid Transit. These updates should include not only the direct Metro station area but also the surrounding commercial and residential blocks to create a walkable, transit-oriented neighborhood befitting a major metro station area.
- The Cherrydale plan should also be updated to be consistent with the allowable heights and transition zones in the rest of the corridor. This means that additional height beyond what is in the original Cherrydale plan should be proposed.
Thank you for your consideration of our comments. We appreciate the opportunity to help develop a plan that helps guide the new Langston Boulevard corridor into a vibrant, inclusive, and transit-oriented corridor.
Thank you,
Sonya Breehey
CSG Comments on the Route 1 Multimodal Study
Dear Mr. Reinhard and team,
The Coalition for Smarter Growth supports the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) preferred alternative to convert Route 1 through National Landing from an elevated highway to a slower, safer, and vibrant urban boulevard. This is a forward-thinking proposal that will eliminate the current barrier that the elevated Route 1 presents and provide greater cohesion between Pentagon City and Crystal City.
It is essential that this new urban boulevard be designed in a way that truly prioritizes the needs of people walking, biking, and using transit. We recognize there are concerns regarding the safety of people without grade separation. However, we believe with the right design and safety measures, this new boulevard can be safe, accessible and provide a more connected community overall.
Physically designing the roadway for slower speeds by narrowing travel lanes and reducing corner radii, providing physically protected intersections and bike lanes, and allowing off-peak on-street parking are proven designs that make streets safer. Added safety measures should also include utilizing pedestrian lead intervals at signals and automated speed enforcement.
Conversion to a boulevard presumes we do everything we can to promote non-automobile access to National Landing, Reagan National Airport, and other commuting destinations. This includes expanding employee transit benefits, utilizing parking pricing, and providing more frequent and reliable transit services. Providing attractive transit options will help intercept commuters from Prince George’s, Fairfax County, and other points south traveling to jobs in Arlington and the District.
We urge VDOT and Arlington County to reimagine Route 1 with an at-grade design that emphasizes safety and accessibility for all road users and provides a vibrant urban boulevard through the heart of National Landing.
Thank you for your time and consideration of our comments.
Sonya Breehey
Northern Virginia Advocacy Manager
CSG Comments: Draft Vision Zero 2030 Plan
We commend Montgomery County for its commitment to ending all traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Vision Zero is important for many reasons, chief among them to make our transportation system one where all users can safely move. We cannot create great places for people to live, work, and play in Montgomery County if people do not feel safe getting there. The county also faces other challenges, such as the county’s rapidly aging population who would like to age-in-place and combating climate change, of which Vision Zero is a critical component of the solution.
Event: Envision the Future of Lee Highway
Arlington County wants to hear from you as the community lays out a vision for the Lee Highway corridor! The Plan Lee Highway team is hosting a community meeting this Thursday, May 27th to present and get feedback on corridor-wide and neighborhood area plans for the Arlington East Falls Church, North Highlands and Lyon Village neighborhoods.
You are also invited to join the Plan Lee Highway team for a walking tour on June 12th to discuss visions for the future. Walking tours are a great opportunity to think about how we can transform commercial corridors into more walkable, sustainable neighborhoods.
Plan Lee Highway Community Meeting
Arlington East Falls Church – North Highlands – Lyon Village
May 27, 2021 at 7 pm
Join the Meeting
Walking Tour
June 12, 2021 at 10 am
Join the Walking Tour
Community members’ input helped to shape the preliminary land use scenarios for five neighborhood areas. The scenarios offer different land use mixes to provide diverse housing options, enhanced open space and stormwater management, safer streets and better transit. Feedback will be used to help develop a preferred Concept Plan.
Thursday’s community meeting will focus on Neighborhood Areas 1 and 5 including Arlington East Falls Church, North Highlands, and Lyon Village neighborhoods. Two other community meetings were already held for Neighborhood Area 2 (John M. Langston, Yorktown, Tara Leeway Heights, Leeway Overlee), Area 3 (Waverly Hills, Donaldson Run, Old Dominion, Glebewood, Waycroft Woodlawn), and Area 4 (Cherrydale and Maywood). The recordings and presentations for all the meetings are posted on the project website here.
You can provide feedback for all neighborhood area and corridor-wide concepts via an online survey through June 20th.
For more information about the Plan Lee Highway process, visit the project website.
Take Action: Help Fairfax develop a strong climate plan!
Fairfax County is holding two virtual public meetings next week to get input on the goals and strategies recommended in its Community-Wide Energy and Climate Plan (CECAP). This is the last opportunity to provide feedback before the plan is finalized and presented to the Board of Supervisors. The meetings will be held Tuesday, May 18 and Thursday, May 20, from 7:00pm – 8:30pm. Both will provide the same information so you only need to attend one.
Your input is critical to ensure Fairfax adopts a bold plan that not only addresses green buildings, renewable energy, and electric vehicles but also includes walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented communities as a core climate solution.
Transportation is the leading source of climate emissions in the county, but cleaner fuels and even electric vehicles won’t be enough. We must reduce how much we need to drive and to make that easier we need our communities to be easier to walk, bike, and use transit to meet daily needs.
Please make your voice heard! Attend one of the public meetings ensuring the plan includes reducing the amount we have to drive by investing in transit, walking, biking, and more homes in walkable, transit-accessible communities. You can learn more about the meetings and register on the CECAP public engagement page.
For more information on the climate and smart growth connection, you can check out this CSG report and presentation.
CSG Testimony Re: Virginia 6 Year Plan
May 4, 2021
Testimony re Virginia 6-Year Plan 2022 – 2027
For this evening I will focus on the big picture. We will submit more detailed comments by the deadline.
First, thank you for your leadership in supporting transit in Virginia including funding reduced fare and free fare initiatives for bus service. Transit is now receiving more funding than it has in the past, however we believe it should receive far more – as much as 50% of future state transportation funding in order to support economic opportunity and equity, more efficient land use and state competitiveness, and fight climate change.
Second, thank you for your great leadership on Virginia intercity rail. Your analysis showed that adding another lane the length of I-95 would be both costly and a failure due to induced demand. Since our Reconnecting Virginia project in 2005, we’ve shown that intercity rail, transit, and transit-oriented development in the state’s urban crescent should be a top priority. Third, thank you for adoption and implementation of SmartScale which in general is resulting in more effective projects and spending.
However, we urge you to do more, in light of the existential threat of climate change. Virginia will be heavily impacted by sea level rise and we must limit that rise if we are going to save our coastal communities including Hampton Roads and the Naval facilities. In addition, we will be faced with more flooding events, washed out roads and transit facilities, as well as longer droughts and significant heat events.
This means you must scale back the extensive road expansion in state plans. New and wider roads in metro areas fill up in as few as five years and they fuel more auto-dependent development, more vehicle miles traveled, and more greenhouse gas emissions. “Congestion relief” is not possible. The science shows electrical vehicles will not be enough. We need to reduce VMT by at least 20% statewide, and because rural residents have fewer options and must drive more miles, our metro areas need to reduce VMT even more. We know how to do this – by focusing development in our cities and towns, and creating transit-oriented communities (TOCs) in our suburbs. This must be combined with focusing our transportation $ on transit, on local street networks for TOCs and on bike/walk investments. It also means pricing solutions like parking pricing, and employer transit benefits, and zero transit fares.
As usual, we strongly disagree with the Northern VA Transportation Alliance whose focus on the failed metric congestion reduction has done great damage to planning in NOVA.
Our suburban elected officials must recognize that the auto-dependent land use approvals that they are granting and the efforts to widen so many roads (even if they have bike/ped paths) creates more traffic and less than ideal experiences for pedestrians and cyclists.
For today, I will just mention two items of concern:
495Next – we and our partners urge you to delay action because VA and Md have not studied a TOC/transit/demand management alternative. The P3 process continues to override fair and objective alternatives analysis. As it is, the proposal to date has far too little funding for transit, and extends the provision limiting transit and HOV to 24% of HOT traffic after which the taxpayers must pay fees to Transurban.
State of good repair – We appreciate the increased attention to maintenance. But it appears that you are including capacity expansion, at least for bridges, in your state of good repair program. If that means additional vehicle lanes, we ask that the relevant portion of the cost due to capacity expansion not be charged in the SGR category but to the capital funding spent on road expansion.
Route 1: We are concerned that the widening of most of Route 1 will create a barrier and make the road far more dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. So could the proposed 123 and Route 1 interchange.
Thank you,
Stewart Schwartz
Executive Director
RELEASE: CSG statement regarding the Washington, DC region’s deadly roads and too many lives lost
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
April 29, 2021
Contact: Stewart Schwartz, 703-599-6437
Statement on the Washington, DC region’s deadly roads and too many lives lost
The Coalition for Smarter Growth shares in the profound sadness and anger at the deadly state of our region’s roads. In the past month, there have been six lives lost in DC alone to preventable traffic crashes: Jim Pagels, Brian Johnson, Evelyn Troyah, Zy’aire Joshua, Waldon Adams, and Rhonda Whitaker. Numerous other fellow residents have been killed in the region’s suburbs including at least four people so far this year in Fairfax: Raymunda Garcia-Hernandez, Christine Caldwell, Ramakant Bhusai, and Choon Yoo. We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of all those lost on the unnecessarily dangerous roads in our region..
We commit to working with our partners in the non-profit community and with area officials to address dangerous road conditions and other factors with a goal of ending traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Despite an overall reduction in vehicle traffic during the pandemic, traffic fatalities soared due to increased speeding and reckless driving. A recent report from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association showed that pedestrian deaths have risen 46% over the last decade, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments says bicyclists and pedestrians are one-third of traffic fatalities in our region. Smart Growth America (SGA), in Dangerous by Design, documents the racial and economic disparities in these deaths and serious injuries among pedestrians and cyclists, and the major role of dangerous road designs that favor the speed and movement of cars over the safe movement of people and safe local access to schools, libraries, services, jobs, and transit. SGA has also shown that as a percentage of people walking, it is our suburban arterials that are the most dangerous.
Unfortunately, the presentations at the recent Council of Governments/Transportation Planning Board Vision Zero Arterial Summit confirmed that most area jurisdictions are not doing enough to fix our roads — particularly our suburban arterials — to make them safe places for walking and biking and taking transit. Too many DOTs continue to focus on moving cars, building new roads, and expanding existing roads. Instead, DOTs should be redesigning our existing roads to be humane places that support the growing demand to walk and bike for access to daily needs, to improve our health, and to fight climate change.
We need action now from our local, regional, and state leaders to prevent further loss of life. We wholeheartedly endorse the five recommendations and accompanying detailed actions for DC offered by Nick Sementelli and Conor Shaw in their recent GGWash post, which should be adopted in the surrounding suburbs as well:
1) Implement emergency road diets on all arterial streets, followed by permanent changes
2) Reduce speed limits on all roads, and deploy automated enforcement to make those limits real
3) Reappropriate street space for public transportation, walking, and micromobility
4) Make safe modes of transportation free and deadly forms of transportation more expensive
5) More rigorous oversight and regulation of DDOT by the DC Council
There is much to do and among the many necessary actions that need to be taken we also call for all area jurisdictions to:
1) Provide much more transparency and detail in reporting deaths and serious injuries for pedestrians, cyclists, and other micromobility users on the region’s roads.
a) Police and transportation agency reporting must include more information about the road design at each site — including the width and speed of the road (both posted and design speed), location and distance between crossing points, type of crosswalk marking, availability of pedestrian refuges, turn radii, location of bus stops compared to crossing points, etc.
b) All cases should be included in publicly accessible and easily utilized websites.
2) Shift significant funding from road expansion to retrofitting and redesigning arterial and secondary roads to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists, using Complete Streets principles, and the National Association of City Transportation Officer (NACTO) standards.
3) Commit to creating Safe Routes to School so every child can walk or bike safely to school.
4) Invest in an extensive network of protected bicycle lanes and bike/walk trails such that biking and walking to work and to meet daily needs is no longer a high-risk activity.
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