Example of separated bike lane.
It would be so nice to have separated bicycle lanes on Gallows Road in Fairfax and Annandale and safe crossings over I-495. As mentioned in our recent issue of Bike News, you have a chance to Speak Up! for such bike facilities on September 19 and 20 at Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) virtual and in-person public meetings about the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists using Gallows Road.
The Board of Supervisors in 2019 directed FCDOT to conduct a Gallows Road Multi-modal Study and assessing barriers that pedestrians and bicyclists face in safely crossing I-495. Following a bike audit this past July, FABB recommended numerous safety treatments for Gallows Road, including separated bicycle lanes.
By way of background, when the Fairfax County Bicycle Plan Map was approved in 2014, two ped/bike crossings of I-495 were included; one north of Route 50 and the other south of Route 50. Subsequently, the 2018 Merrifield Suburban Center Study adopted a possible northern crossing location proposed by the owners of Fairview Park North. This crossing has been made part of the Capital Trail Coalition Network plans. In 2019, the INOVA Center for Personalized Health agreed to coordinate with the county on the best location for a shared use path bridge crossing over I-495 south of Route 50 and to provide $700,000 toward its design and preliminary engineering.
2018 Merrifield Suburban Center Study crossing proposal.
We need local riders to show up and Speak Up! to:
- Ask FCDOT and VDOT to build safe, vertically separated bike lanes on Gallows Road.
- Stress that a Gallows Road bike facility will add connections with four east-west multimodal trails.
- Explain that this would provide safe bicycling to Mosaic, Dunn Loring Metro, Tysons, INOVA, and Annandale.
- Tell FCDOT how you would bicycle to locations on the opposite side of I-495 if there were safe crossings (library, recreation center, high school, middle school, stream valley trail, shopping, and work locations).
You can participate in the virtual Microsoft Team meeting on Tuesday, September 19, at 7:00 pm by clicking on this link.
- Meeting ID: 286 805 482 676; Passcode: swvgu2
- Dial-In Information: 571-429-5982; Phone Conference ID: 387 467 498#
The in-person meeting is on Wednesday, September 20, at 7:00 pm at the Luther Jackson Middle School Cafeteria, 3020 Gallows Road, in Falls Church.
You also can provide your support by sending an email to [email protected]. before the deadline at close of business, Friday, October 6.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to help make bicycling better in Fairfax County.
