An update to the Falls Church Bicycle Master Plan has the potential to remake some city streets.
But only if there is more effort put into turning aspirations to reality than has been the case with the existing plan, adopted in 2015, according to some members of a key advisory panel.
“There’s a lot of good vision in [the 2015] plan, but we didn’t get a lot of infrastructure,” said Tim Stevens, a member of the Falls Church Planning Commission. “That’ll be the true test of this plan — do we start to see some facilities?”
He was speaking at a December work session on the proposed bicycle-plan revision, which after final adoption by the City Council will be incorporated into the government’s Comprehensive Plan.
The update has been in the works for more than two years. “It’s certainly come a long way,” Commission chair Robert Puentes said during the presentation by staff planner Kerri Oddenino.
Reaction to the latest incarnation of the proposal was generally favorable among Commission members. The body will formally consider the package on Wednesday, Jan. 15 before forwarding it to the Council for a final vote, likely at the end of the month.
Buttressing remarks of Stevens, Commission member Andrea Caumont said she was pleased the goals presented in the current draft “are really concrete” and that the plan has incorporated feedback from the public and advisory bodies.
Based in part on that feedback, staff has proposed a two-tiered near-term approach to adding bicycle lanes and ancillary facilities along roadways, with three proposals in each bucket.
Top-priority projects include:
- An east-west connector between the W&OD Trail and the city’s secondary-school campus.
- Bicycle facilities on N. West Street between W. Broad Street and the Fairfax County line.
- Facilities on S. West Street between W. Broad and the Fairfax line.
Areas for consideration after those projects are completed are three more areas:
- E. Broad Street, potentially from Washington Blvd to just west of Seven Corners.
- Park Avenue between Virginia Avenue and N. West Street.
- Great Falls Street.
The revised draft also added portions of N. Washington Street for consideration, as well as Lee Street (north and south).
Of the proposals, the one that might provide the highest hurdle could be trimming vehicle lanes on the currently four-lane E. Broad Street to make way for bicycle or shared-use lanes. Such a proposal would require authorization from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
That stretch of roadway is a major connector from Seven Corners (roughly where Fairfax, Arlington and Falls Church come together) and the central core of Falls Church. It also is a major commuter route.
While Fairfax and Arlington would not have veto power over changes to E. Broad — as VDOT would — state law gives them the power to provide input.
Puentes acknowledged that not everyone in the community has bought into the idea of focusing less exclusively on vehicular travel and more on what’s termed multi-modal transportation.
“There’s a lot of pushback on aggressive bike plans these days,” he said, adding that he was “really glad to see the city sticking with it.”
“People vary dramatically in their opinions,” said Stevens, who also noted a number of logistical and financial issues that could impact implementation of a new plan.
“We’ve got a lot of challenges,” he said. “Our streets are narrow, we don’t have ample budgets to add bike lanes.”
But like most Commission members, Stevens was pleased with the proposal in front of him. He said the package “tries to reach consensus” where it is possible.
A number of Commission members said upgrades for bicyclists can’t be thought of in a vacuum, but needed to be part of coordinated upgrades to city infrastructure.
Several pressed for improved street lighting.
“Falls Church in general is very dark,” Caumont said. “There’s a lot of places in the city where more lighting would make you feel safer as a rider.”
“Better lighting would improve safety all around,” Commission member Phil Duncan said.
After the plan is adopted by Council members, there will be another round of community engagement in spring or summer, Oddenino said.
