Fairfax County is finally making progress on filling in sidewalk gaps along Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston, though the project has created some temporary obstacles for pedestrians.
Construction on the Sunrise Valley Drive Walkway began on April 30 and is now on track to finish by the end of next week (July 13-19) for one segment near Soapstone Drive, according to the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.
The driver believed to be involved in a crash that killed a pedestrian on Fairfax County Parkway last December has turned herself in and been charged in the pedestrian’s death.
Shaza Edris, 20, of Fairfax, was charged with felony hit and run involving in death, and using a handheld personal communications device while driving, the Fairfax County Police Department announced on Friday (June 26).
Fairfax County leaders say a recent proliferation of electrically assisted bicycles (e-bikes) among young people provides benefits but also brings dangers.
“It’s only a matter of time before we see serious injuries and worse,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said at the Board’s June 23 meeting.
After issuing more than 10,000 traffic citations in early June, police are preparing to resume a traffic safety campaign targeting reckless drivers, speeding, and distracted driving later this summer.
The third phase of the “Road Shark” initiative, led by the Fairfax County Police Department in partnership with Virginia State Police, will begin Aug. 10.
Local police and parks officials across Northern Virginia are working to raise awareness of how to safely ride and share paths with electric bicycles in response to reported upticks in complaints about reckless behavior.
Over the past month, the Vienna Police Department has been sharing information about safe and legal riding practices, while also stepping up patrols in areas where concerns have cropped up as part of an E-Bike Safety Awareness Campaign launched on May 29.
Calling the last 48 hours “a dangerous time on our roadways,” Fairfax County police are asking both pedestrians and drivers to pay attention and follow the rules of the road.
The Fairfax County Police Department held a press conference this afternoon (Friday) at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Frye Road in Woodlawn in the wake of five fatal crashes that have occurred over the last two days. Four of them killed pedestrians, while a fifth ended in the death of a motorcyclist.
Fairfax County continues to seek public feedback on a plan to improve safety on a deadly, hilly stretch of Lee Chapel Road in South Run.
The project aims to remove two vertical curves, improve sight distance, and realign the two-lane roadway on an approximately 1,800-foot-long segment between Fairfax County Parkway and Ox Road (Route 123).
Local and state police will soon be allowed to enforce speed limits and other traffic laws on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, though drivers might not see an immediate increase in officers and troopers.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 81 in April authorizing state and local law enforcement officers to cite drivers for traffic infractions on federal highways in Northern Virginia, starting on July 1. Local agencies can also seek the federal government’s permission to install automated speed monitoring cameras.
Local and state transportation planners hope to provide some additional protection to users of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail with a new safety initiative.
If approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the initiative will add high-visibility stop signs at nine trail intersections in Fairfax County, according to NOVA Parks, which owns the 45-mile-long regional park and is supporting the proposal.
Fairfax City has received funding for a study to identify potential safety improvements along heavily used but crash-prone Pickett Road.
The city was awarded $80,000 for the planned roadway safety audit by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), which approved a total of $980,000 in grants last month for 12 different local transportation consulting projects in Virginia and Maryland.
