Bicycle recommendations in Reston Master Plan

South side of Wiehle Ave station

The first draft of the Reston Master Plan is now available. "The Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force was appointed by Supervisor Catherine Hudgins and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, in late 2009, to review the Reston Master Plan and Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan in light of the forthcoming arrival of Metrorail’s Silver Line rail service at three transit stations in Reston."

It's encouraging to see that the plan includes extensive references to the need for bicycle access to and within the station areas. Bicycling could play a major role in helping to alleviate congestion by giving residents a low-cost, convenient transportation option. The W&OD Trail runs parallel to the Silver line and will provide excellent bicycle access to the station areas. The Reston Station development currently underway at the Wiehle Ave station will have a secure bike room that will hold 240 bikes. On the south side there will be racks and bike lockers.

See our earlier post about the Reston Master Plan. FABB members attended several of the initial planning meetings.

Below are bicycle-related extracts from the Executive Summary. Several of the major recommendations include bicycling. While we would have preferred more references to on-road bike facilities, they are not as needed in urban areas with low speed, low volume streets such as in the Reston Town Center. However, several of the major roads are totally lacking in on-road bike facilities:

Development in the Phase 1 Study Area should follow principles of “transit-oriented development” (TOD) in which the station areas have mixed-use development with a variety or residential, employment and retail options in vibrant, pedestrian and bicycle friendly settings which minimize the need and desire to utilize automobiles. There should be a balance of residential and non-residential uses which promotes pedestrian activity and mitigates traffic.

TOD areas need unified streetscapes with wide sidewalks and provision for bicycles, as well as cars and buses.

Traffic concerns must be addressed and mitigated from the outset.

• The RMAG recommendations [that include extensive bicycle facility recommendations] still appear to be valid and should be implemented.
• New and enhanced grids of streets, walkways and bicycle paths are needed in each station area and should be linked to existing roads, walkways and bicycle paths, including roads and sidewalks in office parks outside the TOD areas.
• Bridge or tunnel crossings of the DTR are needed in several locations. These include the Soapstone extension, a crossing near Town Center, and a crossing that extends South Lakes Drive to the north side of the DTR. These need to include ways that pedestrians and bicyclists can cross the DTR.
• Parking minimums for new buildings should be reduced in order to encourage walking, biking and transit usage over driving.
• The VDOT parking area along Sunset Hills should be eliminated. It should be replaced by a linear park parallel to the W&OD park or used for a bus-only lane.
• A grade separated crossing of the W&OD at Wiehle Avenue.

More on the W&OD Trail:

The W&OD should be utilized as a bicycle/pedestrian “highway” to get people to and from the Wiehle-Reston East station. (i) A grade separation for the W&OD’s crossing of Wiehle Avenue would eliminate the current conflicts between trail users and vehicular traffic. An exit from the W&OD to the station could be located west of the overpass. (ii) Given the speed of the bicycle traffic, the W&OD should be widened or a separate paved path should be added in this area to create a distinct pedestrian path, which will facilitate safe usage by both bicycles and pedestrians. 

Other major bicycle-related recommendations:

• Additional pedestrian/bicycle pathways are needed on both sides of the toll road. These should extend into areas that are currently developed and should also facilitate pedestrian and bicycle access to the Reston Town Center area. Lighting is important in order to encourage night time utilization. 
• The area would benefit from a pedestrian and bicycle bridge between Reston Heights and the Plaza America area. Improvements should be made to the Wiehle bridge in order to facilitate safe, convenient pedestrians and bicycle crossings of the Wiehle bridge.

Bicycle parking at Wiehle Ave station - south side

FABB Social ride stops at
Wiehle Ave station south entrance

We mentioned earlier that there will be a secure bike parking room at the new development (Reston Station) underway at the Wiehle Ave Metro station. There will be room for 240 bikes in the parking garage, with more visitor parking scattered around the site. All of this is located on the north side of the station.

During the FABB Social Ride in Reston we visited the south side of the station. Many of us were wondering whether there would be bike parking on that side. I have been involved in the planning of this station for many years as part of the Wiehle Avenue Steering Committee back in 2004 and as a member of the Reston Metro Access Group. Most of the focus of those meetings was on the public private partnership development on the north side.

We were also very concerned about proper access on the south side. Originally the only access was a long walkway parallel to the Dulles Toll Road exit ramp leading to Wiehle Ave. It was never clear whether any bicycle parking was planned on the south side.

We've confirmed with county staff that there will be a direct pedestrian entrance from the south side parking area to allow tenants of the existing office buildings to access the station. You can see the pedestrian/bike entrance leading to/from the curb in the image below (just above and to the right of the "seeded lawn" area. There will also be space for 10 bicycles on this side. That will likely need to expand over time. There may also be bike lockers but that's not confirmed.

W&OD bridge over Wiehle Ave funded

Crash at W&OD Trail/Wiehle Ave

The W&OD Trail crossing at Wiehle Ave is one of the most dangerous on the trail. The majority of crashes occur when eastbound cyclists cross the southbound lanes. What has happened multiple times is that straight-through traffic is stopped for the red light at Sunset Hills Rd but the left turn arrow turns green. Cyclists proceed into the crosswalk not realizing that fast moving motorists may be trying to catch the green light. Our blog entry about a crash at that site prompted numerous comments about similar crashes or near misses at that location.

We're pleased to report that $2.3 million has been allocated to build an overpass at that location. It was funded as part of improvements identified in the Reston Metro Access Group study, in which we participated several years ago.

There is a relatively low-hanging power line directly above this location which could complicate the project. A tunnel would be another option but would likely cost more than $2.3 million.

In the interim, $46,000 was allocated for installing a raised median and additional signage there. This is a relatively low cost measure that would help slow motorist at the crosswalk, especially those using the left turn lane.

Thanks to the Board of Supervisors for funding this project.

Crash on W&OD Trail at Wiehle Ave

Photo: Jeff Anderson

One of the most dangerous road crossings on the W&OD Trail is at Wiehle Ave. Today a bicyclist in the crosswalk was struck by a motorist. The bicyclist was taken to the hospital. The motorist's windshield was smashed and the carbon road bike was likely totaled.

It appears that the crash occurred in the southbound left turn lane. Often there is a line of motorists stopped at the crosswalk and cyclists headed eastbound start to cross. The left turn signal changes first and often motorists speed to catch the light. I believe there have been several bike/car crashes in this lane. Cyclists need to remember to cross one lane at a time, and obviously motorists at this location should always be on the lookout for bicyclists, especially when there's a line of cars stopped at the crosswalk.

If we hear more about the condition of the cyclist we'll pass it on.

Making Reston Metro station areas less pedestrian and bike friendly

Fairfax County DOT recently presented the results of a traffic mitigation study conducted by Cambridge Systematics. According to the Fairfax Times article Reston rail panel focuses gaze on traffic mitigation, "Discussion focused on possible improvements to five intersections: Wiehle Avenue and Sunrise Valley Drive; Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road; Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive; Reston Parkway and Sunset Hills; and Fairfax County Parkway and Sunrise Valley."

The planned improvements call for several "free turn lanes" where motorists can turn right without stopping. An example is the southbound lane on Wiehle Ave at the the Sunrise Valley Dr intersection. Motorists rarely stop for pedestrians at this location, which is a adjacent to the future rail station entrance. A second free turn lane for westbound Sunrise Valley Dr traffic is being recommended at this intersection. If implemented it would be nearly impossible for pedestrians and cyclists who are on the adjacent sidepath to cross Wiehle Ave. These are definitely not improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

A similar treatment is proposed for the Wiehle Ave/Sunset Hills intersection which is adjacent to the northern station entrance. At one time this location was the site of the highest number of ped/bike crashes in the county. Cambridge is proposing a free eastbound turn lane for Sunset Hills traffic.

The W&OD Trail is nearby and there's a major paved trail along Wiehle Ave that will be used by many pedestrians and bicyclists when the station opens. Eastbound traffic now barely stops and we've had many, many close calls from motorists looking left and turning right on red, despite signs prohibiting that behavior. A while back we took a 30-second video of vehicle behavior at this light when it was red, showing that almost none of the vehicles actually came to a stop. It's doubtful that this behavior was factored into the analysis.

Instead of making conditions worse for pedestrians and bicyclists, the opposite should be happening. We discussed these intersection changes with FFX DOT staff and they are well aware of the negative consequences of these recommendations on non-motorized travel. At some point the community has to decide whether it's more important to move cars or move people, especially around Metro stations that are planned as mixed use areas.

The Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force will likely discuss this topic at their next meeting on Tuesday, September 13th, at 7pm at the Lake Anne Community Center.

See the Dulles Corridor Special Study Transportation Analysis Update and Mitigation Strategies Discussion presentation.