CSG writes to convey our support for the Huntington Metro Station plan amendment, which lays the groundwork to transform the Huntington Metro station area into an inclusive, walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented community. One important recommendation we have for the plan is to include language that the County will work with WMATA to provide needed public funding for the transit center to ensure the redevelopment can move forward.
Category: Fairfax County
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.
TESTIMONY: Huntington Metro Site-Specific Plan Amendment
CSG writes to convey our support for the Huntington Metro Station plan amendment, which lays the groundwork to transform the Huntington Metro station area into an inclusive, walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented community.
Huntington Metro TOD for the win!
With your help, we did it! The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in support of the plan amendment that will make way for the Huntington Metro Station area to be redeveloped into an inclusive, walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented community.
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.
Speak up for a transit-oriented community at Huntington Metro!
You still have time to speak up on the Huntington Metro plan before the Planning Commission votes tomorrow. Walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities are the most sustainable and equitable way for Fairfax County and our region to grow. That’s why we need you to speak up in support of developing the Huntington Metro station area as a key part of that larger vision.
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.
RSVP: Culmore Pedestrian Safety Rally & Public Meeting
Join CSG and CASA for a rally, followed by the meeting, to demand urgent action to make Route 7 safer for the residents of Culmore and everyone who travels the road.
Important public meeting and rally for safer streets in Baileys Crossroads
CSG and CASA’s joint efforts have prompted an important public meeting next week! VDOT, in collaboration with Fairfax DOT and Supervisor Penny Gross, will hold a meeting to hear community requests for potential safety improvements for Route 7 in the Culmore neighborhood of Bailey’s Crossroads.