The drive down Echols Street SE is about to get bumpier — and, the Town of Vienna hopes, a little slower.
After some initial skepticism, the Vienna Town Council gave its support on April 24 to traffic-calming measures designed to force drivers to slow down on the two-lane residential street, which crosses over Wolftrap Creek.
To the relief of Bailey’s Crossroads residents, some traffic safety improvements are in the works for the often harrowing area where Columbia Pike and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) meet.
Perhaps the most urgent change will be the addition of a pedestrian hybrid beacon at the crosswalk across Columbia Pike at Tyler Street — the intersection where a driver hit and killed Justice High School student Lesly Diaz-Bonilla in November.
The City of Fairfax is moving forward with a plan to make the Chain Bridge Road and Eaton Place intersection safer.
After some debate at an April 11 meeting — and an alternate motion was proposed and failed — the Fairfax City Council ultimately voted 4-2 in favor of a redesign to the intersection, which is just outside Oakton near the Fairfax County border.
(Updated at 5:40 p.m.) Fairfax County transportation planners are considering the possibility of adding a traffic beacon to the intersection of Sunrise Valley Drive and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD) near Robert Fulton Drive in Reston.
(Correction: This story previously said the beacon is being considered for the intersection of Sunrise Valley Drive and Wiehle Avenue.)
Some transportation projects on the horizon have sparked excitement among the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors over potential transit improvements.
Visualize 2050 is a federally-mandated long-range transportation plan with an emphasis on projects that adhere to new emission reduction goals.
A proposal for improvements to the Hook Road Recreation Area in Reston is currently under review by the county.
The plan would include new pedestrian walkways, traffic safety measures, improvements to existing pedestrian walkways, a restroom pavilion and the repositioning of a baseball field on the site.
In the year 2030, travelers on The One — the dedicated bus service planned for the Richmond Highway (Route 1) corridor — will be able to wait for their next ride while taking in artwork designed by local students.
Proposed artwork for seven of the nine future Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit stations is now online, and county residents can share their preferences by filling out a survey that is open through April 3.
Fairfax County could be taking some notes from New York City and Portland as it tries to turn back the surge of recent pedestrian fatalities.
The Board of Supervisors directed the Fairfax County Department of Transportation on Tuesday (March 21) to review turn-calming measures from other jurisdictions, discuss options with the Virginia Department of Transportation, and come back to the board’s transportation committee with an analysis of how that can be implemented.
(Updated at 1:30 p.m. on 3/20/2023) Fairfax County is in the midst of deciding where nearly $25 million in funding for pedestrian and bicyclists improvements will be allocated.
After combing through more than 2,000 possible projects, staff have develop a draft list of prioritized projects, according to Michael Guarino, head of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation’s capital projects division.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay plans to introduce a board matter next week that would direct county staff to analyze a road safety measure called turn calming.
The measure would direct staff to look at cities like Portland and New York City that have established turn calming programs, as recommended in a March 1 letter from the county’s Trails, Sidewalks and Bikeways (TSB) Committee.
