McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members on Jan. 5 approved a resolution recommending 14 potential bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly projects that could be financed with Fairfax County funds.
The Board of Supervisors on Oct. 5 last year set a goal of obtaining funding of at least $100 million over fiscal years 2022 through 2027 for more active-transportation facilities, such as trails and sidewalks, that are not financed on the county’s priority list through fiscal 2025.
County officials especially are interested in projects located near transit stops, parks and schools. Factors to be considered include cost, implementation ease, public benefit, regional connectivity, and input from supervisors, community members and other stakeholders.
Officials at the Board of Supervisors’ Transportation Committee on Dec. 14 last year said the initiatives should include maintenance and repair projects, in addition to new construction, as these are less expensive and easier and faster to implement.
Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville) met with MCA leaders and asked them to prioritize their desired initiatives. MCA’s resolution supported these seven high-priority projects:
• Conduct a study for a potential bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Dolley Madison Boulevard near McLean Central Park and install pedestrian-safety improvements (such as flashing beacons) at the roadway’s intersections with Ingleside Avenue or Elm Street.
“It’s something that a lot of people feel pretty strongly about,” said David Wuehrmann, who chairs MCA’s Transportation Committee. The initiative likely would be “quite costly,” so given the limited funds available, MCA leaders favored doing a study rather than asking for a bridge, he added.
A bicyclist was killed Dec. 29 at Dolley Madison Boulevard and Ingleside Avenue, an MCA member noted.
• Do an engineering study and then improve the walkway on the north side of Haycock Road between the north side of its bridge over Interstate 66 and Great Falls Street. The county should make the walkway a consistent 5 feet wide, substantially reduce its slope between Turner Avenue and the I-66 bridge, and install a painted crosswalk across Turner Avenue at the intersection with Haycock Road.
• Widen by a foot the concrete sidewalk on Haycock Road’s north side on its bridge over I-66 and add curb, all without making structural changes to the span. This project also should repair the concrete sidewalk on the street’s north side between the south side of the I-66 bridge and the eastern access road to the West Falls Church Metro station.
• Repair portions of concrete sidewalk along the west side of Westmoreland Street between Gordon Avenue and Haycock Road.
• Repair parts of the asphalt trail along the east side of Balls Hill Road between Thrasher Road and Heather Hill Lane and in along Cooper Middle School’s frontage.
• Repair sections of the asphalt trail along the north side of Haycock Road between Westmoreland and Great Falls streets.
• Extend sidewalk for one block on Redd Road’s north side from the existing sidewalk on the northwest corner of the street’s intersection with Idylwood Road to the intersection at Reddfield Drive.
The MCA’s resolution also supported having the county government also consider these projects:
• Repair cracked, bulging and uneven sections of an asphalt trail along the north side of Dolley Madison Boulevard between Old Dominion Drive and Lewinsville Road.
• Build a sidewalk on the north side of Birch Road from Birch Grove Court to Kirby Road.
• Construct a sidewalk along Linway Terrace east from Old Dominion Drive to an existing walkway.
• Conduct a study about building a trail along the north side of Lewinsville Road between Swinks Mill Road and Bridle Path Lane.
MCA member Merrily Pierce said it would break her heart if a “textbook-perfect” ginkgo tree along that route had to be cut down to accommodate a trail. At her suggestion, the resolution included language for this item urging the county to preserve as much as possible mature trees within the project’s right-of-way.
• Do a study for a potential trail along the south side of Old Dominion Drive between Balls Hill Road and the bridge over Interstate 495. The trail then would connect with the planned pedestrian/bicyclist trail along the Beltway, MCA members said.
• Maintain and upgrade the 50-yard-long asphalt trail along the south side of Georgetown Pike, located just east of Dead Run Creek.
• Repair portions of the asphalt trail along Douglass Drive from Georgetown Pike to the intersection with Douglass Drive/Father John Court.