After a weather-related delay in February, the new half-mile Vesper Trail connecting Vienna and the Spring Hill Metro station is now open.

The new trail runs through the Old Courthouse Spring Branch Stream Valley Park, sometimes called “Tysons’ Last Forest.”

The trail is part of a series of necessary transportation improvements identified in the Tysons Metrorail Station Access Management Study. The trail is federally funded.

At the grand opening this morning (Tuesday), Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova and Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins spoke at the grand opening and emphasized the new trail’s crucial role in connecting Vienna residents to Tysons transit and retail.

New Vesper Trail makes it easier for residents to walk and bike to Spring Hill Metro and other shops in Tysons! @ffxconnector pic.twitter.com/gcjOLBHJg1

— Sharon Bulova (@SharonBulova) April 16, 2019

Photo via Twitter

After a pilot phase last fall, battery-powered e-bikes are now a permanent fixture of the Capital Bikeshare fleet in Tysons.

As of 12:30 p.m., there were two e-bikes in Tysons: one at Westpark and Jones Branch Drive, east of Tysons Galleria, and one at Greensboro and Pinnacle Drive east of the Galleria, near The Boro development.

The e-bikes can be tracked on the Capital Bikeshare’s map, with lightning bolt icons showing the presence of an e-bike.

The new bikes can go up to 18 mph and are designed to help with hills. The e-bikes are typically an additional $1 to ride, but the extra fare is being waived for all riders until April 15.

Tysons is now up to 13 stations, with new stations added just north of Tysons Galleria and at the McLean Metro station in the last few months.

Image via Capital Bikeshare

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is looking for some public input on new trail names for the bicycle and pedestrian path along I-66.

No Traily McTrailface, please — FCDOT is seeking a more pleasant, non-gimmicky monicker for the trail, which is currently in planning but set for construction later this year.

“The concern was that I-66 has a negative connotation because everyone hates I-66,” Chris Wells, bicycle and pedestrian program manager for FCDOT, said at an earlier meeting. “But everyone knows where I-66 is and where it’s located. We’re going to be doing sample names and present those at a future meeting.”

The trail — will run from Gallows Road in Vienna to Centreville — has more problems than just the name. Discussion of the I-66 trail at that meeting turned contentious as bicycle advocates prodded Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) staff over issues like separation of the trail from the road and snow removal.

For most of the length of the trail, the bicycle path will be at a separate elevation from the highway or running parallel on side streets.

For a few miles, particularly near Vienna, however, the trail will be running directly alongside the highway. VDOT officials at the meeting noted that it was “not ideal for a pleasant bike-riding experience,” but placing the trail on the other side of the sound barrier would have cut into the back yards of homes along the road.

Upcoming meetings are planned to review the proposed trail and offer an overview of the upcoming construction timeline. The two meetings are scheduled for:

• Vienna: Tuesday, April 9, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Marshall Road Elementary School  (730 Marshall Rd SW)
• Centreville: Saturday, April 27, from 1-11:30 a.m. at Centreville Elementary School (14330 Green Trails Blvd)

According to a Department of Transportation post for the meetings:

The meeting will also include an interactive exercise with attendees to explore possible names for the new trail.  Attendees will be asked to submit names and weigh in on a sampling of names that have been suggested. FCDOT will than narrow the list of names and host an online survey to vote on the trail names to be presented to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board for consideration and approval.

Image via VDOT

Cyclebar, a premium indoor cycling studio, is planning to come to Tysons Galleria later this year as part of a series of transformations for the north end of the mall.

Macy’s, one of the mall’s anchor tenants, is mid-closure and Tysons Galleria is already in plans to replace the store with a selection of smaller venues like an Apple Store and iPic theater.

Don Brazelton, the owner of the Tysons franchise location, said the location is part of a stretch of wellness-oriented outlets planned inside the former Legal Sea Foods that closed in September. Brazelton said other fitness locations, like a yoga studio, could join the cycling studio.

“We’ve been trying to get one in the Tysons area for a while,” Brazelton said. “We were talking to the Boro and a couple of other places, but the economics given to us at the Galleria made it impossible to turn down. When you take into consideration some of the short term and long term plans — that mall is going to be entirely different. It’s going to have a different energy. We wanted to be a part of that, and they wanted us to be a part of that.”

The chain already has locations in Falls Church and on Arlington’s Columbia Pike. Brazelton said the “premium aspect” of Cyclebar fits well with the Galleria, which is noted for its higher-end, luxury retailers.

Among the amenities, Brazelton noted that the location will have heated tile floors and top-rated cycles.

Despite this, Brazelton said he’s committed to keeping the studio affordable.

“Typically, prices at cycling studios range from $110-130 per month depending on who it is,” Brazelton said. “I’m going to let people in my studio for $89 a month for unlimited rides.”

It’s hard to say where this fits in with other cycling studio subscriptions, as prices at cycling studios can vary significantly.

Brazelton said the Tysons location is targeting an August 2019 opening.

Photo courtesy Don Brazelton

The deadline is nearing for the 30-minute Tour de Tysons bike race around Tysons this weekend.

The race is scheduled for Saturday (March 16) and, unlike most races, is ranked by how far the cyclists can ride. Adult races range from 30 minutes to one hour, while the race for children is around 20 minutes.

All of the men’s categories until the 1:45 p.m. time slot are currently filled, but there are still a few spaces at that time and open spaces for women and children throughout the day.

Registration for the race is $35 for adults and $15 for children.

The event is hosted by the Tysons Partnership and the National Capital Velo Club.

Cyclists who are not registered with the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association will be required to purchase a one-day license with cash at the race.

The event, featuring 10 races from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., has drawn 300 competitors in previous years.

Photo via Facebook

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Tuesday (March 12)

• Workshop: Fair Housing Protections for People with Disabilities — 12-1 p.m. at The Arc of Northern Virginia (2755 Hartland Rd.) — Non-profit organizations Arc of Northern Virginia and Housing Opportunities Made Equal are hosting a workshop on fair housing protections for people with disabilities focusing on what state policies are for housing discrimination and what people with disabilities should look out for when moving into a home.

Wednesday (March 13)

• McLean Public Safety Program — 7:30 p.m. at the McLean Governmental Center Community Room (1437 Balls Hill Road) — The McLean Citizens Association invites the public to its Public Safety Program featuring Richard Schott, Fairfax County’s police auditor and Anna Northcutt, a member of the Fairfax County Police Civilian Review Panel.

Thursday (March 14)

• Community Forum on Housing for All — 7-8:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Vienna (450 Orchard St NW) — The Fairfax County NAACP will be hosting an event discussing issues related to affordable housing in Fairfax.

Friday (March 15)

• Farewell Bell’s at Tysons Biergarten — 11-2 a.m. at the Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — The Biergarten is celebrating Bell’s before the company’s beer is no longer sold in Virginia. Everything from fruity drinks to a selection of stouts will be on offer. Registration for the event is free. The event is free and open to the public. A similar event will be held in the Lost Dog Cafe in Merrifield on Wednesday.
• Chubbies Tysons Grand Opening — 5-8 p.m. at Tysons Corner Center (1961 Chain Bridge Rd.) — To coincide with the coming of spring, shorts chain Chubbies is celebrating with music and free gifts for the first 100 purchasers of items over $99.
• Backbeat Underground Live — 8-10 p.m. at 1st Stage Theatre (1524 Spring Hill Rd.) — The Backbeat Underground and Virginia Chamber Orchestra will be performing a “souljazz” concert in the Tysons black-box theater. Tickets are $25 at the door, $20 for seniors or advance purchasers, or $15 for students or military.

Sunday (March 17)

• The 8th Annual Nowruz Festival — 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Tysons Corner Center (8100 Tysons Corner Ctr) — A bazaar with music, dance and costumed characters will be held at the mall to celebrate the Persian New Year. The event is planned to include six hours of live performances and an array of traditional Persian sweets, pastries and other dishes.
• Trade-In and Trade-Up Bicycle Blue Book Event — 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Spokes Etc. (224 Maple Ave E) — The Spokes Etc. Vienna location is offering credit for anyone who trades in an old bicycle and an additional 10 percent through March 31 for anyone upgrading to a Trek Disc Brake Road Bike. The Blue Book value guide can help assess the value of the bike for trade-in credit.
• Capitol Steps in Vienna — 4-6 p.m. at James Madison High School (2500 James Madison Dr.) — Bipartisan political satire crew Capitol Steps will perform at James Madison High School in a fundraiser for the school’s booster organization. Tickets range from $25 to $30.

Photo via Facebook

There was a lot of heavy sighs and reluctant head shaking from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) staff at their meeting last night to discuss the bicycle trail planned for I-66, the subject of a fair bit of controversy over the years.

There are 22.5 miles of multimodal improvements planned for I-66, from Gallows Road in Vienna to Centreville. Preliminary construction activity started in December 2017, but Susan Shaw, megaprojects director for VDOT, said construction was about to increase at a noticeable pace.

“We’re at the very beginning of four heavy construction seasons,” said Shaw. “This year, ramping up over what we’ve done in the past.”

Unlike other transportation projects, which start at one end and work towards the other, staff said construction will be occurring at several locations along I-66 simultaneously.

As part of the new improvements, a bicycle trail is planned to run along most of the length of the trail, though Shaw said there were no milestones laid out for the trail’s construction.

“When it’s being constructed, the staging and some of the details are yet to be worked out,” Shaw said. “In terms of the contract, there are no requirements except to have [the trail] in place by the end.”

The packed meeting was held in the Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive) and was hosted by the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB). The group of local bicycling advocates is small enough that nearly everyone in the room, from county staff to hardline cycling advocates, knew each other on a first-name basis. More than a few had been on both sides of the public/policy maker divide over the years.

The project attracted some controversy over whether the trail would be located inside or outside the highway’s noise walls, and some of the bicycling advocates grilled VDOT staff over the decision to put the bicycle trail inside the sound wall, separated from the street by a 50-inch high barrier. As someone in the audience brought the argument up again that the trail should be outside the sound barrier, there was a long pause and sigh before Shaw answered.

“People are very concerned, sound or not, that suddenly anybody can be in their back yard,” said Shaw. “It was a compromise to come up to this, but it was a way that we could get the bike trail accomplished. There were many options discussed, but we’re kind of past that now and moving on.”

Along most of the route, the trail will be at a separate elevation from the main street, though the length along the side of the highway between the Dunn Loring and Vienna Metro stations will be at-grade. For most of the trail, there is also an auxiliary lane and full shoulder separating the trail from the street, though it’s narrower in some parts.

“I know that’s not ideal for a pleasant bike-riding experience, but that’s the longest segment like that,” Shaw said. “But there, we’d be taking bits of backyards off of homes in that neighborhoods.”

While VDOT is handling construction for most of the trail, the Fairfax County Park Authority is handling construction where the trail goes through park land and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is handling the stretches of trail where it diverges from I-66.

“There are places where it isn’t physically possible to keep the trail along I-66, so we’ve developed areas called off-corridor pieces,” said Chris Wells, bicycle and pedestrian program manager for FCDOT.

Construction on the off-corridor trails are, in part, funded by developer contributions from projects under construction in Tysons.

One of those areas will be near the Vienna Metro station, where a new shared-use path will take the place of the southernmost lane from the street north of the station. Wells said construction will begin on the off-corridor projects this year with the intent of delivering them around the same time as the other I-66 improvements.

At the western end of the improvements, the trail stops at the entrance to Bull Run Regional Park. Shaw said no funds were identified for the project past that, where the trail also faces complications surrounding environmental and park-related issues with continuing into the battlefield.

Among other concerns raised about the bicycle trail, the trail will not connect directly with the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. Cyclists were happy to hear, though, that new bridges at the Dunn Loring and Vienna Metro stations will help make the trail accessible from the Metro.

Amenities related to the trail were also rather sparse, with no additional lighting planned except where the trail goes through underpasses or culverts under roadways.

One of the biggest topics of consternation was Shaw’s response to inquiries about snow removal on the trail.

“That’s not in our plan,” Shaw said, and when pressed about what will happen to snow piling up on the trail, she shrugged and answered, “It will melt.”

Cindy Engelhart, Northern Virginia district bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for VDOT, said the organization’s policy since 2004 has been that it does not handle snow removal. While Arlington County removes snow from the Custis Trail, Fairfax County currently has no policy regarding its bicycle trails.

“Under a maintenance agreement, we could explore that possibility,” said Engelhart. “If Fairfax County wanted to do something like that, I’m sure we would be interested in talking.”

“It’s easy to notice the compromises and the things that aren’t perfect, like snow removal, but in the end we’re getting a cross-county bicycle facility,” said Wells. “That’s a really good thing. In the end, the intent of both the on-corridor and off-corridor pieces is a new bicycle facility that will serve as an east-west spine, much like the Washington and Old Dominion Trail today.”

Two more meetings are planned to take place in the spring, one near the Vienna Metro station and another at the western end of the project. Among other topics of discussion are whether or not the trail should have a new name.

“The concern was that I-66 has a negative connotation because everyone hates I-66,” said Wells, “but everyone knows where I-66 is and where it’s located. We’re going to be doing sample names and present those at a future meeting.”

Map via VDOT

A meeting tomorrow (Thursday) will look at the current status of some surprisingly controversial efforts to make I-66 more bike and pedestrian friendly.

The meeting will be held by the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling in the Providence District Office (3001 Vaden Dr.) at 7:30 p.m.

Susan Shaw, the VDOT Project Manager for Transform I-66, and Fairfax County Department of Transportation representatives are scheduled to attend and offer an update on the status of the trail.

The planned trail will run from Gallows Road in Vienna, near the Dunn Loring Metro station, to Route 29 in Centreville. Three miles of the trail will be adjacent to the interstate while eight miles will be removed from the interstate.

The section of the trail running alongside I-66 inside the highway’s noise walls drew sharp criticism from cycling advocates, including the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, who pushed to have all of the trail outside the walls. But neighbors living along the highway refused to have the trail run near their properties, prompting some squabbling between state officials and lawmakers over the project.

The trail is planned to be 10 feet wide with two-food-wide shoulders on each side. Access to the trail is planned to be implemented at every half-mile.

Image via VDOT

The Vesper Trail, a new half-mile bike and pedestrian trail between Vesper Street in Vienna and the Spring Hill Metro station, officially opens Friday (March 1).

The trail links the residential neighborhoods in northeast Vienna to the area around the Metro station, which is the site of several redevelopments with significant new retail and residential planned for the area.

The trail is part of a series of necessary transportation improvements identified in the Tysons Metrorail Station Access Management Study. The trail is federally funded.

The trail passes through Raglan Road Park, a small forested area separating Vienna and Tysons.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. at the Vienna entrance to the trail.

The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling will be hosting a ride from the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry St) at 9:30 a.m. to the trail in time for the opening. After the event, light refreshments will be served and a bike mechanic is scheduled to be available for free tune-ups.

Photo via Fairfax County Department of Transportation

The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) is looking for Northern Virginia residents to help with bicycle and pedestrian safety by becoming a transportation safety leader.

The program offers free training in bicycle and pedestrian safety techniques and certification as a bicycle education instructor.

Are you a #NoVa resident committed to safer #cycling? @BikeFairfax and @WABADC sponsor seminars in March: pedestrian or bike safety, or become a @BikeLeague Cycling Instructor. Apply by Mar 1 https://t.co/9XNwWJ4FwE
Dates here: https://t.co/c0pmhnZHww@BikeArlington @Active_PW pic.twitter.com/c6a8mN2vbu

— Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (@BikeFairfax) February 21, 2019

The program is a collaboration with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, which is partnering with FABB, George Mason University, Inova Hospital and others on the project. The aim is to increase the safety of bicyclists and reduce crashes. The training is part of a federal highway safety project funded by a grant from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

Three training programs are available:

• League Certified Instructor (LCI) Seminar (24 hours) — To become an LCI, you’ll need to complete this comprehensive 3-day LCI Seminar. As a prerequisite, you must also complete the one-day “Smart Cycling Class” at least one month prior to the seminar as well as an open-book assessment.
• Smart Cycling class (eight hours) — Gain bicycle safety knowledge and skills by completing this class online and six-hour seminar both in a classroom and on a bicycle.
• Pedestrian Safety Training class (four hours) — Gain pedestrian safety knowledge and skills by completing this four-hour class over two evenings.

Participants in the program must attend all applicable training dates and commit to doing at least two community pedestrian and bicycling safety outreach events by Sept. 15 and one more by January 2020.

The training is open to any local government staff, police, school faculty or residents with an interest in improving bicycle safety. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Friday, March 1.