Soapstone bike lanes swept

Sweeping Soapstone Dr bike lanes

It was very encouraging to see a street sweeper on Soapstone Dr in Reston removing the accumulated leaves in the bike lanes between South Lakes Dr and Sunrise Valley Dr. You can see from this poor cellphone photo that the lanes on the near side are clean and the sweeper (in the distance) and following vehicle are sweeper the opposite side. It looked like the lanes on Lawyers Rd were relatively clean as well.

Kudos and thanks to VDOT for being proactive and sweeping the lanes. They aren't much use to cyclists when filled with leaves and debris.

Help us make Fairfax more bike friendly

Make Your Year-End Donation to Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling!

As you make your end-of-year charitable donations, we hope you will consider donating to FABB. FABB is an all-volunteer group that promotes bicycling as a viable transportation option in Fairfax County. FABB volunteers work with the community to make bicycling a safe, cost-effective, and easy way to get around Fairfax. We accomplish our work on a small budget so every dollar donated ensures that we can continue our efforts. In 2013, we need funding for maintaining our website, purchasing bicycle safety equipment, attending bike and transportation conferences, and expanding our bike counting effort. Please help us with a year-end tax-deductible donation today.

This year we have the opportunity to double the impact of your gift. From now through December 31, a very generous anonymous donor has agreed to match dollar for dollar the first $1,000 in donations.

Among our main goals for 2013:

• Pass and implement the Countywide Bicycle Master Plan
• Hire a Safe Routes to School coordinator for Fairfax County
• Expand our bike counting effort
• Conduct bicycle safety campaigns
• Ensure that biking facilities are in place for the opening of the Silver Line

We were very productive in 2012. Some of what we accomplished in Fairfax County this year:

• Spearheaded inaugural Fairfax Bike Summit
• Played key role in developing the Countywide Bicycle Master Plan
• Changed school policy so that parents (not faculty) decide whether children can walk and bike to school
• Enhanced school policy to include bicycle safety education programs
• Installed three bike racks in the Town of Vienna
• Formed Tysons Bike Group
• Assessed condition of Fairfax County Parkway Trail
• Advocated for first ever sharrows in Fairfax County
• Conducted bike counts at multiple locations
• Held first FABB Social Rides and FABB Happy Hour
• Added bike tourism information to Visit Fairfax

With our dedicated team of passionate volunteers, every dollar that FABB receives goes a very long way. Please donate to FABB online or send a check for "FABB" to FABB, P.O. Box 3752, Reston, VA 20195.

Thank you for your support and contribution to a better Fairfax.

Bruce Wright
FABB Chairman

Fairfax school receives SRTS mini grant

Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean was one of four Virginia schools awarded $1,000 mini grants. They plan to purchase two bike racks. We've been in touch with the school and hope to meet with them to discuss bicycle safety classes and possible formation of a bike train. Congratulations to Kent Gardens.

The deadline for applying for the next round of Quick Start Mini-grants is December 20. The grants are great for holding bike rodeos, holding bike safety classes, or purchasing incentives for kids who participate in walk and bike to school days.

New safety posters from VBF

Virginia Bicycling Federation recently created two new safety posters that can be downloaded and printed. "Light up the night-Be Safe Be Seen" encourages cyclists to use front and rear lights and to wear visible clothing. Virginia law requires that bicyclists use front and rear lights at night on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or greater. On roads with lower speed limits a front light and rear reflector are required but it's recommended that you use both front and rear lights.

The second poster has a more subtle message, "Don't be color blind-Same Rights, Same Responsibilities." It took a minute to figure out that "color blind" was referring to the red light signal in the image. Having the word "blind" highlighted in red was a clue.

Kudos to VBF for creating these posters and making them available to the public.

FABB will be holding bike safety events this winter. We just heard that our grant application for purchasing lights and reflective gear was approved so we'll be stocking up on lights and reflective pants straps; stay tuned for more info about those events.

Transportation training at MWCOG

Training at MWCOG

We attended an excellent training session this weekend sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The purpose of the training was to learn more about how transportation decisions are made in the Metro DC area. Here's a description of the training from the TPB Weekly Report:

Citizen Leaders Gather to Learn About Regional Transportation Decision-Making

A group of current or emerging citizen leaders and other interested individuals from around the Washington region gathered recently to learn about how transportation decisions are made in the region and how to become more involved in the decision-making process.

The 19 individuals, each of whom has been recognized as a force of change in his or her respective community, met on Thursday, Nov. 29, and Saturday, Dec. 1, for the Transportation Planning Board's Community Leadership Institute, or CLI, normally held in the spring and fall each year.

The first CLI took place in 2006 after TPB staff conceived it as a way to help citizen leaders connect the interests of the local communities and organizations they serve with the broader challenges facing the entire metropolitan area.

Since then, the TPB has hosted ten CLIs. At the most recent one, Todd Turner, who attended a 2008 CLI and now serves as the Chair of the TPB, welcomed participants and encouraged them to get more involved in regional decision-making.

A diverse agenda of educational presentations, experiential group learning, and interactive discussions has always been central to the CLI curriculum.

Key presentations provide participants with information about the TPB and its partners, including state and local departments of transportation and elected officials, and help explain the many different processes -- at the regional, state, and local levels -- for developing and advancing individual transportation projects.

Presentations also describe some of the key transportation challenges facing the region, especially worsening roadway congestion, inefficient land-use and development patterns, and severe funding shortfalls.

One of the main interactive group activities at the most recent session emphasized the crucial link between transportation and land-use and highlighted the challenge of accommodating future growth in the region.

In the first part of the exercise, groups each proposed on a map where to concentrate the growth of nearly 700,000 new households and more than 1.3 million new jobs that is forecast to occur through 2040 and what transportation improvements need to be made to accommodate the new growth.

Groups also had to confront the region's funding challenges in the second part of the activity by adding up the costs of their proposed improvements and identifying sources of new funding to pay for them. 

One of the other main activities in the curriculum called on participants to assume the roles of different neighborhood-level interest groups in tackling a fictitious local transportation issue. The activity underscored the obstacles and opportunities that exist in trying to build consensus among people who have differing opinions and perspectives.

Peter Shapiro, who served on the Prince George's County Council from 1998 to 2004 and as Chair of the TPB in 2003, facilitated the workshop.

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, during its next regularly-scheduled meeting, the TPB will hold a brief ceremony to honor the 19 "graduates" of this fall's CLI session.

The date of the next Community Leadership Institute has yet to be set, but once it is, the TPB and its staff will begin to recruit individuals who are interested in attending and invite them to submit a formal application.

Comments on Route 7 widening project

In an earlier blog post we mentioned that VDOT is planning to widen Route 7 to 3 lanes in each direction from Reston Avenue to the Dulles Toll Road at Tysons. Wide sidepaths are planned on each side of the road. The last day for making comments on the project is Saturday, Dec. 8. Comments should be sent to meeting_comments@vdot.virginia.gov with the subject heading "Route 7 Widening - Reston Avenue to Jarrett Valley Drive." We submitted the following comments today:

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the Route 7 Widening project from Reston Ave. to Jarrett Valley Dr. I have the following comments:

1. Public transit should be an integral part of the widening project, preferably on dedicated right of way. That right of way could be shared with bicyclists.
2. We strongly support the inclusion of multi-use sidepats on both sides of Route 7. These sidepaths should have the same or similar elevation profile as the roadway and be as straight as possible. If not, the route could be hilly and divergent from the roadway and would not be an efficient way for bicyclists to travel along the corridor. 
3. Intersections of the sidepaths and the roads should be designed for maximum bicycle and pedestrian safety. Curb radii should not be so wide as to allow motorists to exit without yielding to pedestrians. Pedestrian-activiated signals should use the "rest in walk" concept which allows a longer crossing signal for pedestrians and bicyclists and does not require bicyclists to stop to activate the signal. Motorists are not required to get out of their cars to push a button to cross intersections, and trail users should not have to do the same, especially along the mainline of Route 7. 
4. There should be close coordination with the VDOT project to replace the Route 7 bridge over the Toll road that is located just east of this project. The trail through the Toll Road intersection should be grade-separated, and the transition between the two projects needs to be planned carefully.

Thank you,

Bruce Wright

Interview with FABB chairman

I was interviewed recently by Kate Ryan of WTOP News. Kate was at the Reston Town Center covering the two rides that were held there on Thanksgiving morning. We discussed bicycling in Reston and Tysons and the bicycle master plan. Note the sign in the background that states No Bicycling along with No Roller Skating, Soliciting, Trespassing or Loitering. Initially I thought the sign referred to activities banned on the sidewalk but lumping it in with Trespassing, Loitering, and Soliciting doesn't make sense. I'll check on it. Here's a link to the interview:

Kate writes the bike blog Lane Change. According to Kate, she is "a DC-based reporter shifting from the driver's seat to the bike lane. And you can come along for the ride."