Commuting by bike is part of the picture. Photo contributed
With the warm weather approaching, Fairfax County is holding a series of meetings to hear thoughts about active transportation in the county, and this input will be used in their Active Fairfax Transportation Plan to integrate the existing Bicycle Master and Trails Plans. Throughout April, every Supervisor’s district will have virtual public meetings to find out how county residents travel by biking, walking, rolling, hiking, running and riding in and around the local communities.
Bruce Wright, the President of the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) supports the county’s trail network, and is looking at linking certain parts of the network to improve ride-ability. While much work has been done in this area, there are a few spots that are unclear for a cyclist connection. “I hope that the county puts more emphasis on making these connections,” he said.
Officials are looking to work with transportation partners to develop a vision to help shape the future of active transportation in Fairfax County by consolidating previous active transportation planning efforts into one cohesive document that is easy-to-digest and track performance, the county officials said. Using this document, officials want to encourage livable street design and transportation network that connects and encourages people to take transit. Eventually this plan will be used to update the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan.
On the bike riders level, this is local riders’ chance to advocate for more funding, actions to curb speeding by motorists, more signage, lighting, bike parking, and other ideas to make Fairfax County more bicycle-friendly.
More Bike Options
According to the Capital Trails Coalition, the region already has 469 miles of existing trails, but there are 152 projects, making up 408 miles of trails, that need to be built or connected to complete the network. In Fairfax County, there is the Backlick Run Trail near Springfield, the Fox Mill sidepath, the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway Trail, the Reston Parkway sidepath, the Richmond Highway Trail, the Route 7 sidepath, the VRE Trail, and the West Ox Road sidepath. The “sidepaths,” are bike talk for a trail parallel to the road.
While most of these extensions are under one mile, some are significant like the Virginia Railroad Express Trail, which is a path 16.48 miles long, or the Route 7 sidepath that is 11.89 miles long.
For those who cannot make the virtual meetings, the survey can be taken online at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/transportation/bike-walk/activefairfax
Meetings Schedule
District Meetings on Active Fairfax Plan
Braddock - Mon., April 26 7 p.m.
Dranesville - Tues., April 20 7 p.m.
Hunter Mill - Mon., April 19 7 p.m.
Lee - Mon., April 12 6:30 p.m.
Mason - Thurs., April 8 7 p.m.
Mount Vernon - Thurs., April 22 6:30 p.m.
Providence - Wed., April 28 7 p.m.
Springfield - Tues., April 27 7 p.m.
Sully - Wed., April 21 7 p.m.
Conversación comunitaria de transporte activo en español Thurs., April 15, 2021 7 p.m.
Lunch & Learn - Tues., April 13 12 p.m.
Lunch & Learn - Fri., April 23 12 p.m.