- This meeting offers a great opportunity for local riders to advocate for promised considerations of alternatives to improve accessibility to Huntley Meadows Park.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) will hold a virtual public meeting on proposed paving and restriping changes in the Lee, Mount Vernon, and Springfield Districts on Tuesday, April 19, at 7:00 pm.
Although the meeting is billed to cover the three districts, the 2022 repaving schedule for this area only has one planned bike lane addition in Lee District while the other projects focus on crosswalks. Still, this meeting will provide an excellent opportunity to learn about VDOT’s repaving program and speak up for more bicycle infrastructure in these districts.
Lee District:
Proposed Lockheed Boulevard Bike Lane
Lockheed Boulevard: Bike lanes are planned between Route 1 and the Huntley Meadows Park Entrance, WHERE FEASIBLE. We really need local riders to participate in this meeting to press VDOT and FCDOT on the standards for determining feasibility and on the shortcomings of this proposal to achieve longstanding county accessibility goals for the area.
Back in early 2019, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors removed two long-planned trails through Huntley Meadows Park from the county’s trails plan. They promised to explore alternatives to increase bicycle and pedestrian accessibility without affecting the sensitive ecosystems inside the park itself. A few public meetings were held on the issue by the end of 2019 but little subsequent action has occurred.
FABB believes that the restriping plan shows the need for the Huntley Meadows perimeter trail, which was proposed as a viable alternative in 2019. The restriping, and particularly the transportation departments’ reluctance to remove parking or add a protected cycletrack, show that there are no other viable alternatives to meet the accessibility goal. Local riders need to emphasize this point to press the county to reconsider the perimeter trail.
Join the online meeting here or participate by phone by dialing 571-429-5982 and using Phone Conference ID: 652 144 956#
A video of the meeting will be available on the district paving and restriping page after the event.
As always, bikers will be able to provide striping-related feedback by submitting comments online with a deadline two weeks after each district meeting is held. You can submit comments to FCDOT here until May 3, 2022.
Please mark your calendars and join us in advocating for better bicycling with VDOT and FCDOT this spring.
