Fairfax County officials are seeking input on how to allocate millions of dollars in funding for improvements to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) unveiled a list of proposed projects last month and is now actively accepting survey responses until 4:30 p.m. on March 31.
In addition, virtual meetings to present the dozens of potential projects and gather input will be held at noon today (Wednesday) and at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday).
An estimated $100 million has been earmarked — or, at least, is expected to be spent — for the proposed improvements, which range from installing crosswalks to building roadway medians and adding bicycle paths.
The Board of Supervisors set the target in fall 2021 of investing $100 million in projects to benefit “active” or non-motorized transportation users by 2027, committing an initial allocation of $5 million toward that goal in 2022.
However, as of last September, only $12 million of the $82.1 million approved by county officials had actually been spent on infrastructure projects — far from the targeted goal.
“How completely unacceptable — it has to change,” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said when the lack of spending came up during a budget discussion on Sept. 16.
Bierman, whose district has 15 different projects on FCDOT’s new preliminary list, lambasted the lack of progress.
“I’ve had it up to here,” he said. “Everyone who works on those projects needs to understand.”
Board Chairman Jeff McKay echoed Bierman, adding that he wanted to know “why it takes so long.”
“The frustration is clear here,” McKay said, urging county staff to “speed up the pipeline” of projects.
FCDOT developed its list of proposed projects was based on requests from the community as well as unfunded recommendations from various traffic studies conducted over the years. The projects were then analyzed and prioritized based on their expected impacts on safety and access, proximity to destinations like schools and parks, significance within the regional transportation network, and other criteria.
The highest-ranked project under consideration in this current round is a pedestrian refuge for Burke Lake Road and Signal Hill Drive in the Braddock District. If approved, the project would also upgrade the intersection’s curb ramps and add “pedestrian-scale lighting.”
Other higher ranked projects include an installation of approximately 4,000 feet of bicycle lanes on Coppermine Road from Centreville Road to Sunrise Valley Drive in McNair and improvements to a trail crossing on the south side of Little River Turnpike at the I-495 North exit ramp in Wakefield.
The full list of projects that FCDOT is soliciting feedback on can be found on the department’s website.
