Construction work on the first traffic circle in Falls Church is gearing up.
Signs are in place for the project at S. Maple Avenue and Annandale Road, which will convert the existing four-way stop with traffic lights into what transportation planners hope will be a better travel experience.
A newly adopted vision statement affirms Arlington County’s commitment to supporting modes of transportation other than cars, but falls short of some advocates’ ambitions.
County Board members, who adopted the statement and associated goals at a Saturday meeting, defended the new language as aspirational while also being realistic about the current state of transit in Arlington.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) is considering various ideas to keep cars from blocking Arlington’s designated bus lanes.
Nearly a decade after the county and Alexandria inaugurated the region’s first dedicated bus-only travel lanes, ticketing motorists who get in the way remains decidedly low-tech.
Arlington officials say they’re aware of deficiencies affecting pedestrians and bicyclists along stretches of N. Glebe Road between I-66 and Langston Blvd.
“The sidewalks belong to a different era — terrible and definitely not adequate,” County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said on Saturday.
Falls Church officials next week are expected to authorize requests for regional funds in support of two key transportation upgrades.
The proposals for Haycock Road and Annandale Road were discussed at the July 7 City Council work session, with formal action slated for Monday, July 14.
A proposal to add a 10-foot-wide path for bicyclists along Haycock Road has won informal support from the Falls Church Planning Commission.
“It will be exciting if it happens,” commission chair Andrea Caumont said during a June 4 briefing on the plan.
Street upgrades in Bluemont, Claremont and Shirlington, plus a loan for renovating 73 affordable housing units, are scheduled for County Board consideration this weekend.
Board members have a total 52 items on their consent agenda this month, but no regular hearing items. All items pulled for further consideration will be heard at the Board’s recessed meeting, set for Wednesday, June 18.
Arlington County’s commitment to 11 bicycle-safety goals set in 2019 came under question at a recent meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.
“We’re really not meeting the targets,” Gillian Burgess, a member of the committee that advises County Manager Mark Schwartz on bicycle issues, said at the meeting last week.
Protected bike lanes, a new stop light and improved bus stops along S. Walter Reed Drive are included in a proposed $7 million county contract.
The transportation improvement contract, slated for County Board consideration on Saturday, is for part of the “Complete Streets” project on Walter Reed between 5th Street S. and Columbia Pike.
A new long-term “blueprint” to dramatically expand Northern Virginia’s bus rapid transit lines calls for significant investment along core Arlington routes.
A draft Bus Rapid Transit Action Plan, unveiled yesterday (Wednesday) is meant to guide agencies throughout the region as they consider future transit investments. A proposed map of possible BRT lines envisions two routes connecting Columbia Pike to Crystal City and D.C., and another route running east from Falls Church into Rosslyn, across the Potomac River and into Georgetown.
A new directive to focus more on big-picture advocacy and less on specific projects has Arlington’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee seeking more guidance about its role.
Some committee members say they understand the reasoning behind County Manager Mark Schwartz’s request last month. However, they don’t want to give up entirely on providing input about individual projects or policies — which they see as an important public service.
Pedestrian-only zones have been all the rage in Arlington’s southern neighbor Alexandria recently. Should that trend come to Shirlington next?
Logan, an Arlington County Community High School senior reached out to ARLnow saying they’re working on a project about turning Campbell Avenue in Shirlington into a pedestrian-only zone and wanted to see if there was interest or concerns from Arlington residents.
