No money for bicycle program

On Tuesday the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made final decisions on the FY 2013 budget. Despite hearing from over 300 cyclists who asked for some funding for the Bicycle Program, the Board refused to allocate any operating funds to the program. The program received $375,000 in FY 2009, $204,544 in FY 2010, and $0 in FY 2011 and 2012. According to Fairfax Co DOT,"FCDOT has significantly reduced its participation in program outreach due to budget limitations.

It's not all doom and gloom. While we were very disappointed by the lack of operating funds, that doesn't mean there is no money for bicycle-related activities and projects. Funds from the Commercial and Industrial tax are dedicated to bike projects, primarily the Gallows Road bike lanes. Funds are also available from that source for pedestrian and bicycle projects, most of which are pedestrian access projects around Silver Line Metro stations. Read about the Bicycle Initiative on page 164 of the FY 2013 budget.

The first ever Countywide Bicycle Master Plan is fully funded and should be completed this summer. However, without proper program funding or staff, we're concerned that the Countywide plan could meet the same fate of the Tysons Bicycle Master Plan which was completed in Feb. 2011 and has been sitting on the shelf ever since. It has not been approved by the Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors.

Read the FCDOT's response to Supervisor Foust's questions regarding the Bicycle Program.

Ped/bike bridge at Wolf Trap being installed

Bridge span being lowered into place.

The first span of the pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Dulles Toll Road at Wolf Trap Farm Park was installed last night. This bridge will connect the trail on the south side of the Toll Road with a new trail on the north side that will lead to the park. The existing bridge on Trap Road over the Toll Road is very narrow with no room for pedestrians.

This project is part of the Beulah Road Walkway Project that was initiated by the NoVi Trails group headed by Jenifer Madden. It shows that hard work, persistence, and patience pays off. Funding was obtained from several sources with the help of Congressman Moran and the support of Supervisors Hudgins and Foust.

The final span of the bridge will be installed tonight. Congratulations to Jenifer for her work on making this facility a reality.

Good crowd at Be Fit McLean

We spoke to lots of people today at the Be Fit McLean Outdoor Expo. People wanted to know about good bike routes in the county and we had several copies of the Fairfax Co Bicycle Route Map to hand out. Several people signed up for the FABB e-newsletter (to sign up send a message to info@fabb-bikes.org). We also encouraged people to get involved in the county Bicycle Master Plan process.

We met Eduardo from Phoenix Bikes, a youth and community bike shop in Arlington. Their table was covered with free bike bells courtesy of BikeArlington. Phoenix Bikes will be holding a used bike sale on March 3 at Big Bear Cafe in DC. Phoenix is helping the Falls Church High School bike club to hold club rides since bike riding is a prohibited activity and the club needs an outside sponsor to hold rides. We're hoping to change that policy.

Supervisor Foust was on hand to check out the exhibits and judge the Dutch oven cooking contest. The National Park Service reps were next to our table and we discussed the issue of biking on the GW Parkway. According to them, the original charter for the GW Parkway states that bikes are not allowed on the Parkway and it was their sense that it would take an act of Congress to change that charter.

We learned that NPS holds Learn to Ride classes and Bike with a Ranger sessions in the spring. WABA also has a full schedule of bike classes this spring. We'll post more details on the FABB events page.

Thanks to the FABB volunteers who helped out at our booth and to everyone who made donations to support our work. Our next event is the Vienna Green Expo on April 19.

Report on Great Falls-McLean Bike Plan Meeting

Around 20 people attended the Great Falls-McLean Bike Plan Meeting on Monday evening. Supervisor Foust attended and spent some time talking to cyclists and checking out the marked up maps. Dan Goodman of Toole Design Group gave an overview of the planning process and fielded questions from the audience. Some of the comments made during the meeting:

• The plan needs to include access to areas outside of FFX Co such as DC and Maryland. Access to Chain Bridge is poor and many cyclists use it to get to the C&O Canal towpath and the Capital Crescent Trail.
• Street sweeping of on-road bike routes is critical.
• Motorists and bicyclists need better education regarding existing bike laws and the rules of the road.
• Many roads in the area will be very difficult to retrofit with bike facilities Shared lane markings could be used on these roads.

The audience then broke into groups that made comments on the various maps showing segments of the study area. 

The area is a popular destination for many cyclists. The low population density and scenic roads makes for interesting riding conditions although most of the roads have no paved shoulders. It will be difficult to add new bike facilities in the future given the limited right of way.

The summary of the meeting will soon be available on the project website. The Burke-Springfield area will be the focus of the next bike plan area meeting, sometime in late January.