A representative from consulting firm Kimley-Horn presented the next steps to improve transportation through the Maple Avenue area to the Vienna Town Council for its consideration on Monday.

Following surveys of Vienna residents conducted by the town and Kimley-Horn, several portions of the Maple Avenue Multimodal Study were highlighted as top priorities and presented to the council. According to the town’s survey, residents identified eight items as top priorities.

Among those items are the redesign of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail crossings, integration of leading pedestrian intervals (LPI), filling vital sidewalk gaps and providing traffic impact analysis guidelines. A streetscape master plan and design, a long-range transportation master plan, parking and demand study, and the redesign of Church Street and Lawyers Road intersection rounded out the top concerns.

Jinks shared the priorities with the council while echoing the redesign of the W&OD Trail Crossing as one of the public works department staff’s top projects to “start to find funding and implement as soon as we can.”

While Kimley-Horn conducted independent engagement meetings with community members to address challenges or concerns, many of the top priorities were the same as reflected in the town’s survey.

Based on the meetings and a survey of the baseline condition of Maple Avenue, consultant David Samba from Kimley-Horn presented solutions to the council that could be implemented in the next five to 10 years. The projects presented would address some travel conditions or challenges – not just traffic with vehicles, but with biking, walking and transit experiences.

Kimley-Horn’s study looked at a single future development scenario including 13 mixed-use developments across the corridor that would add about 700 vehicle trips in the morning and 500 vehicle trips in the afternoon. According to Samba, analysis showed that even with the addition of the traffic, Maple Avenue would continue to function similar to how it does now.

“It gave us confidence that if we address today’s challenges, we’d be addressing tomorrow’s challenges at the same time,” Samba said.

The survey identified a number of challenges, but primarily established public concern that multiple means of travel in the area need to be addressed, not just the automobile experience.

Kimley-Horn presented 18 projects to the council with considerations for near-, mid- and long-term recommendations.

Short-term recommendations include the redesign of the intersection of Church Street and Mill Street, W&OD Trail Crossing redesign, implementing leading pedestrian intervals, and all way stops. They also include trail management or extension on Locust Street, redesign of the Pleasant Street and Courthouse Road intersection, roadway operation and safety improvement, filling sidewalk gaps and redesign of the Nutley Street and Courthouse Road intersection.

Mid-term recommendations include a local circulator, a bicycle network, Capital Bikeshare, curb reconstruction and bus stop enhancements on Maple Avenue.

The firm lists redesign of Branch Broad and Beulah Road intersection, raised medians and a Maple Avenue off-peak parking plan as long-term recommendations.

Of the 18 recommendations, Samba listed six as the top priorities:

• The redesign of the intersection of Church Street and Mill Street
• W&OD Trail Crossing Redesign
• Leading pedestrian intervals
• A local circulator
• A bicycle network
• Filling sidewalk gaps.

Following the presentations by Jinks and Samba, Council member Howard Springsteen expressed gratitude for the project documents, but also emphasized the effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on traffic and commuting.

“I think your study is a very good reference document out there that we can look at,” Springsteen said of the Kimley-Horn report. “But I think right now, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water with the pandemic.”

At tomorrow’s meeting, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will consider (Action 5) using $2.8 million to acquire a section of land to advance the Tysons street grid and turn the group of blocks into a more easily traversable city.

“The County Executive recommends that the Board approve the use of up to $2,790,000 in Tysons Grid of Streets Road Fund revenues for acquisition of a perpetual street easement and a temporary construction easement for Center Street in Tysons,” a staff report said.

The new road would connect Greensboro Drive to Leesburg Pike. The expensive acquisition is part of the county’s ongoing efforts to create a grid of streets connecting the various islands of activity around Tysons.

“Tysons Corner currently consists of large superblocks with a relatively small number of streets,” the county said on its website. “The large block size inhibits transit use, pedestrian and bicycle movement by limiting short, direct connections between points within Tysons. This places excessive reliance on the existing street system to accommodate most trips to, from and through Tysons by use of single occupant vehicles.”

The section will need to be acquired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make “Center Street” happen.

“The offsite portion of Center Street falls partially on US government property, administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which requires localities to provide compensation for obtaining land rights such as perpetual street easements for road construction,” the staff report said. “Appraisals were performed to determine the land value and cost associated with the perpetual street easement and temporary construction easement, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to the above referenced amount for the land rights.”

Image via Fairfax County

“Relay,” a new autonomous electric shuttle, made its first test run throughout Merrifield’s Mosaic District yesterday. 

Relay is a free, driverless transportation option that will take people from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro Station to the Mosaic District. 

Yesterday’s testing was the beginning of a mapping process to teach the vehicle its route. In the learning process, the shuttle needs to stay on its route down to the millimeter, according to Dominion Energy’s Innovation Strategist Julie Manzari.

Testing and mapping usually take a few weeks or more with autonomous shuttles depending on the complicated nature of the route, according to Manzari. The route Relay will be taking is especially interesting due to busy roads. 

The project was launched by Fairfax County and Dominion Energy in partnership with EDENS, Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Department of Transportation, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and George Mason University.

Transdev will be in charge of the management and maintenance of the vehicle, which was made by EasyMile, according to the county’s website. 

In a YouTube video, EasyMile engineer Nathan Ramsey said that the shuttle has several different braking systems, uses GPS and has a LiDAR system, which observes the environment with infrared lasers.

“Using LiDAR, the vehicle can’t miss objects. It will see everything around it, and it will respond accordingly,” Ramsey said. “So if it needs to slow down or stop because somebody runs out in front of it — even if they dart out in front of it just a couple, mere feet — the vehicle will have no trouble stopping or slowing.”

Ramsey said that he believes the shuttle is safer than human drivers, noting that the technology can respond safely to human error.

The shuttle will be enforcing mask requirements and separation as much as possible to ensure COVID-19 safety. They plan on keeping a seat between each passenger and requiring passengers to wear their seatbelts, according to Manzari. 

“We have a lot of enthusiasm around the project,” said Manzari. “People are very curious about autonomous vehicles.”

Photo courtesy Peggy Fox/Dominion Energy

Plans can now move forward for a pedestrian and bicycle connection in Tysons East.

Tysons Park Place II, LLC is looking to create the connection from the existing structured parking garage to a sidewalk along the Jones Branch Connector.

The new connection would improve walkability to a future redevelopment.

“This connection would provide pedestrians and bicyclists with a more direct site access to/from the Tysons East area and the McLean Metrorail Station when compared to the existing connections from Jones Branch Drive,” according to county staff.

On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to support a break of the limited access line, which the proposed pedestrian connection would cross.

Prior to the board’s vote, the limited access line was restricting the creation of the new connection, county staff said.

(Updated 8/20/20) The City of Falls Church will receive funding from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) for its two proposed projects.

The projects are among the 21 transportation projects the NVTA announced will receive funding from its program, which is now in its fifth year and is offering $539 million, according to a press release. The projects were selected from 41 proposals — totaling $1.44 billion — from 13 localities and agencies in Northern Virginia.

The NVTA will fully fund Falls Church’s projects. One will address transit access and multimodal connectivity in West Falls Church for $6.9 million, while the other will tackle multimodal improvements in the downtown area for $8.3 million.

“We much appreciate the regional cooperation that has led to the approval for funding of both of the City of Falls Church transportation proposals,” Councilmember David Snyder, who also serves on the NVTA’s Executive Committee, said in a statement. “This is a great example of the direct benefits that accrue to our citizens from the active engagement of city councilmembers and city staff in regional policy and funding bodies.”

More from the city about the projects:

West Falls Church Access to Transit and Multimodal Connectivity ($6,900,000)

Install a new 10′ multi-use path and 6′ planting strip along Shreve Road between the W&OD Trail and Route 7, acorn style lights, crosswalk near the intersection of Shreve Road and Gordon Road, and benches near the entrance to the W&OD trail.

Downtown Falls Church Multimodal Improvements ($8,300,000)

Install two midblock crossings, widen sidewalks and remove obstructions (including utility lines), install curb extensions, adjust intersection geometry, and increase visibility at six crossings/intersections on Park Avenue between N Washington Street and Virginia Avenue.

While the majority of the selected projects got the full funding request, four projects received partial funding.

“The fully-funded projects will receive sufficient funds to advance to construction, while the partially funded projects will advance to the early phases of project development, but not necessarily [for] completion,” the press release said.

The Town of Vienna’s expansion plans for the Capital Bikeshare program to help people get to the Metro was among the 20 projects that didn’t make the cut. The project would cost roughly $280,000.

Update corrects name of NVTA

Image via City of Falls Church

Two Metro stations in Tysons will receive shuttle bus service as part of Metro’s plans to reopen more than a dozen stations this Sunday (June 28).

Metro announced yesterday (Monday) that the Greensboro and McLean stations in Tysons, along with the East Falls Church station are the three stations that will soon have shuttle buses but still won’t offer rail service.

A dozen other stations, including Clarendon, Smithsonian and College Park, will reopen this Sunday with rail service. “Beginning Monday, June 29, buses will be added to the system’s 14 busiest bus lines to provide more capacity and more frequent service as the region reopens,” according to Metro.

Metro closed 15 stations earlier this year due to limited cleaning supplies and decreased ridership. Once the stations reopen this Sunday, Arlington Cemetery will be the only station left without regular service, Metro said.

Meanwhile, Orange and Silver stations west of Ballston are undergoing work this summer, including platform reconstruction and work connecting Phase 2 of the Silver Line.

In addition to the reopened stations, Metro riders can expect bus service realignment starting Monday, June 29.

More from Metro:

Metrobus customers on the region’s busiest routes will notice more frequent buses, less crowding, and more regular service beginning Monday, June 29. An additional 136 trips are being added across 14 routes: 54, 70, 92, 30N, 30S, A4, A6, A8, P6, V4, W4, F4, P12, and T18.

To make these improvements possible, Metro will temporarily suspend bus service on four routes that currently have extremely low ridership — NH2, C14, G2 and M6. Customers along these routes are asked to use other Metrobus routes nearby.

Starting Monday, weekday service will be improved with additional buses on the 54, 70, 92, 30N, 30S, A4, A6, A8, P6, V4, W4, F4, P12, and T18.

Service will be temporarily suspended on the NH2, C14, G2 and M6. Use alternate bus service nearby.

Plans to Make Juneteenth a State Holiday — “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Tuesday he will propose legislation to make Juneteenth, a celebration observed on June 19 commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, be recognized as a paid state holiday.” [Vienna Patch]

Transportation Webinars Start Today — The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, the City of Fairfax, Fairfax County, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and Mason’s Department of Parking and Transportation teamed up on a series of webinars on active transportation. The series kicks off today at noon. [George Mason University]

No Phase Three Yet — “Virginia won’t enter Phase Three of its reopening plan this week, Gov. Ralph Northam said Tuesday. Speaking during his twice-weekly news conference in Richmond, Northam said that although the state’s health metrics are trending in the right direction, he’s not ready to lift restrictions further that were designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.” [Inside NoVa]

Tysons Partnership plans to host a virtual meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) to tackle transportation issues in the area.

The meeting will address recent challenges people face this year — including the Silver and Orange lines shutting down this summer to providing space so pedestrians and cyclists can social distance.

The event will include local employers, retail and office owners and county staff focused on transit and economic development to talk about how to creatively address transportation issues caused or impacted by COVID-19, according to the event’s description.

Panelists will include:

• Hillary Zahm of Macerich
• Jon Griffith of Capital One
• Alex Iams of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority
• Eric Teitelman of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation
• Andrea Ostrodka of Toole Design
• Michael Rodriguez of Smart Growth America

The meeting is open to the public and set to run from 4-5 p.m. People will receive the link to the Zoom webinar after they register for free.

People can provide feedback on Fairfax Connector’s proposed service changes for this fall, which include expanded service from the McLean Metro stop.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) is asking people to submit input via an online survey, email ([email protected]), phone (703-339-7200, TTY 703-339-1608) or mail, according to the county’s website.

“FCDOT normally conducts several community input meetings on proposed changes to Fairfax Connector service, but as a result of current public gathering restrictions due to COVID-19, transit staff recorded a presentation which is available online for viewing instead,” the website said.

The proposed service changes include several routes — the existing 334, 340/341 and 721 routes and the new 722, 350 and 351 routes.

More about the proposed changes to the Tysons-area routes:

Route 721: Chain Bridge Road – McLean Metrorail Station – Includes expanded weekday midday service every 30-minutes from the McLean Metrorail Station to the George Bush Center for Intelligence (GBCI) facility in Langley, Virginia. The buses will operate with 30-minute headways.

Route 722: McLean Metrorail Station – GBCI – Includes new weekday express service every 15 minutes during morning and afternoon peak hours between the McLean Metrorail Station and the GBCI facility in Langley.

People can submit comments until Friday, June 5. A presentation on the proposed changes on YouTube, the routes’ draft schedules and a PowerPoint presentation are available online.

FCDOT plans to present the final proposed changes to the county’s Board of Supervisors in July and, if the board approves them, the changes will go into effect by or before Oct. 31, the email said.

To improve multi-modal transportation, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) wants to hear from the public about 41 project possibilities — three of which are in Falls Church and Vienna.

The updates will be part of a project called the Six Year Program that spans from fiscal years 2020-2025. The program aims to reduce congestion around the region, according to a press release.

“The projects being evaluated cover multiple modes of transportation, including roadways, transit and pedestrian/bicycle facilities,” the release said.

Local Projects Under Consideration

The Town of Vienna proposes an expansion of its Capital Bikeshare program to help people get to the Metro, according to NVTA documentation. Changes would include the addition of four new bike stations.

“This town implementation of the Capital Bikeshare system will connect residents and the surrounding community to transit and trail options in the I-66 corridor, including the Orange Metrorail line, planned commuter buses, the W&OD, and the planned I-66 trail,” the document said.

Costing $282,400, the project would be completed in 2025, according to the proposal.

The City of Falls Church proposed $8.3 million to improve walkability and bike-friendliness along Park Avenue and West Broad Street, which are typically hectic area.

“Park Avenue connects to many of the city’s civic, recreational, and cultural resources,” documentation said.

If chosen for funding, this project would be finalized in 2026.

Another project proposed by the city would address safety needs near the West Falls Church Metro station by encouraging multi-modal transit and fixing problematic areas, documentation said.

“A pedestrian fatality occurred on this stretch of Shreve Road earlier this year,” the document said. “The scope of this project includes professional and construction services for a new multi-use path to better connect the W&OD Trail with the West Falls Church Metrorail Station.”

This proposal would cost $6.9 million.

A complete list of project propositions from other NoVA counties and localities can be found online.

How to Get Involved

Due to the demand for funding and a budget cap of $522 million, NVTA cannot fund all of the projects and must choose which ones to complete based on a variety of factors, which include community input.

“Public input is an important part of the Six Year Program Update process,” the press release said. “Feedback is encouraged and all public comment provided will be reviewed and considered.”

People interested in leaving feedback can either visit the website or call 703-642-4652. The deadline to leave a comment is Sunday (May 24).

Final projects are set to be adopted on July 9 at a NVTA meeting, according to the press release.

Image courtesy NVTA