Some pedestrian and bicycle advocates are urging Arlington leaders to swing for the fences when crafting the county’s new Transportation Master Plan.
“We need to be transformative,” said Cynthia Palmer, chair of the county’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, which met on Jan. 6 and discussed priorities members believe should be in the transportation plan.
In both that meeting and a Jan. 8 meeting of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee, there was a press to de-emphasize vehicular transit in favor of other options.
“Whatever we do should be to encourage mode-shifting — make it harder for people to stay in their cars and make it easier to choose something else,” said Aaron Schwartz, a member of the bicycle body.
Others sought an even more aggressive approach.
Randy Swart, a veteran advocate in the bicycle community and former president of the Arlington County Civic Federation, urged a push to scrap the county’s entire transportation policy. In its place, Swart wants to implement a “Safe System” approach, which prioritizes above all else the elimination of crashes that result in death and serious injuries.
“We can’t have the system we really need by fixing intersections and lowering speed limits. It’s just not going to get us there,” Swart said. “We have to redesign our system — shaking everything up and doing everything over.”
“It’s going to be a long and painful experience,” Swart said of such a transformation, but in his mind it represents “the only way to get us where we want to go.”
“Band-Aids won’t get us there,” he said.
Bicycle Advisory Committee member Mike Hanna, like Swart, was in favor of pressing the government to take aggressive steps. It would put the ball in the county leaders’ court, he said.
“Let’s ask for it and let them tell us they can’t do it,” Hanna said.
Several months ago, the county government initiated Arlington’s Transportation Future, a planning process tasked with developing updates to the 2007 county transportation plan.
Work will continue through 2025, with final adoption by the County Board slated for the following year.
While primarily a staff-driven exercise, Arlington’s Transportation Future does have an advisory group, appointed by County Manager Mark Schwartz, that includes representation from 14 different county commissions and committees.
While the tenor of the Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting emphasized dramatic change, discussion at the Pedestrian Advisory Committee was more evolutionary in nature.
One concern of that panel: Current traffic signage across the county is often convoluted, making it counterproductive.
“So much of our signage is just words — there’s too many signs with too many words,” said Pamela Van Hine, a committee member. “It can be overwhelming. There’s not enough graphics. There’s not enough symbols.”
Her committee colleague Andrea Walker echoed the sentiment.
“[Being] intuitive is something that’s so necessary,” she said. “Not being intuitive causes accidents.”
The pedestrian committee also zeroed in on accessibility — the ability to navigate Arlington’s sidewalks for people using wheelchairs, walkers or scooters.
While there has been “a lot of improvement” in sidewalks and curb ramps in recent years, many challenges remain, committee chair Eric Goodman said.
“There are in some cases almost impossible roadblocks,” he said, pressing for Arlington become a champion for accessibility.
The two advisory groups, and others, have until the end of the month to get their big-picture recommendations submitted as part of the Arlington’s Transportation Future initiative.
The heavy lifting of the effort is likely to gear up in the fall. Any proposed changes to current policy need to be advocated for in coming months, said Cynthia Palmer, chair of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.
“I don’t think Arlington will take another crack at this for a number of years,” she said.
Swart, while continuing his press for “disruptive” policy changes, anticipates that Arlington leaders are unlikely to embrace a sea change in transportation policy.
“That won’t happen any time soon in Arlington. I have no illusions about that,” he said.
