Public Meeting on Proposed Bike Lanes Set for Tonight

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by Jennifer van der Kleut November 14, 2016 at 11:00 am 45 Comments

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is looking for locals to share their thoughts about proposed Reston bicycle lanes tonight.

County officials are scheduled to hold a community meeting to gauge the public’s thoughts about bike lanes in four locations around the community before several local roadways are repaved. Locals can share other ideas about ways to improve safety for traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians, too, according to the county.

The streets that are under review for potential new bike lanes are:

Glade Drive, from Glade Bank Way to Twin Branches Road.
Twin Branches Road, from Lawyers Road to South Lakes Drive.
Colts Neck Road, from Reston Parkway to Sunrise Valley Drive.
North Shore Drive, from Ring Road to Oak Spring Way.

Many Reston residents already have spoken out with their thoughts on the proposal, on Reston Now.

Several said adding bike lanes to Glade Drive would be a bad idea, as the road is already too narrow with on-street parking on both sides of the road.

Similar feelings were expressed about North Shore Drive, where many residents said plentiful parking was more crucial than bike lanes. The commenters said they feel the street is too narrow to accommodate both.

The meeting is set to take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m in the cafeteria at Terreset Elementary (11411 Ridge Heights Road).

Read more about the proposed paving and bike lanes on the Fairfax County website.

Image via Fairfax County

Mike M

Reston already has one of the best contiguous bike trail networks anywhere. Why are we wasting our money to put bikes and cars on the same roads with significant gaps in the network which encourages even more dangerous behavior? What is behind this wasteful and dangerous dysfunction? And why is our community the free fire zone for such government -sponsored shenanigans? Have we nothing better in which to invest this money that will benefit so few and increase safety issues?

Fairfax County and Reston shamefully lack contiguous sidewalks due to our “leaders'” inability to turn proffers around into improvements that are related to development. Why diddle with bikelines? What is going on here?

Fire Hudgins; fire Bulova!
- Internet Heavy Weight
  
  I think this is why the called for the meeting. For you !
  - Mike M
    
    I have working obligation. If they were serious they would have an online forum. They are NOT serious.
- 30yearsinreston
  
  Hudgins and Bulova haven’t had an idea in 20 years
- Nyla J.
  
  Progress is going on. Glad to be one step closer to turning into the next Arlington (rather than Tysons or Springfield).
  - Mike M
    
    Ballston might be a good model for the new urban core. But not all of Reston and certainly Arlington has it’s Tysons equivalents.
Guest

This is a fine idea! North Shore in particular is a valuable bike route around center central, but becoming dangerously high volume, with frequent commuter traffic. Raising safety awareness with clearly marked bike lanes would be a valuable addition to the public.

Anyone with something meaningful to contribute should attend the meeting.
- LisaR
  
  I agree. Projects like these are nothing but positive for the community.
30yearsinreston

Safety ?
How about some street lights
John Farrell

Didn’t see a RestonNow reporter at this meeting where approximately 50 Restonians attended.

We found out that on-street parking could be eliminated on Glade, Colts Neck, Twin Branches and North Shore.

We found out that Colts Neck could be reduced from 4 lanes to 3.

We found out that the Reston Soccer league had not been advised that on-street parking could be eliminated around Quarter Master field.

We found out that the Reston Swim League had not be advised that on-street parking near Glade Pool and near Lake Audubon Pool on Twin Branches could be eliminated.

We found out the bike lane advocates had organized to try to pack the room in favor of replacing on-street parking but were outnumbered by those who want to preserve on-street parking.
- Jenny Gibbers
  
  Thanks. Reston journalism is the pitz these days. Recent RA meeting wasnt covered either. Its all about punching out at 5 my guess.
- restonista
  
  John Farrell – Thank you for the update for those who couldn’t attend!
  - LisaR
    
    He is only sharing the points that support his point of view. He left out the overwhelming support data that shows that road diets and bike lanes calm traffic and make roads safer. He left out the discussion about the bike master plan passed by the county over two years ago. He left out the fact that this is project will be completed at no increase to the cost. He left out the fact that the presenter said numerous times that no existing parking will be taken away. The facts of the presentation are online on the VDOT website, please take the time to review and don’t rely on the report of someone who’s agenda is clearly to block a project.
    - Mike M
      
      His point of view is the 99.5% who do not bike on our roads.
      You come across as one selfish creature!
      - Guest
        
        So 99.5% of the residents in these don’t own or ride a bike? Really?
      - Mike M
        
        They don’t ride them on the main roads. It’s called common sense.
- Azurra
  
  This post does not substitute good journalism. I also attended the meeting and the presenter from the county specifically said that no parking would be, or is proposing to be, eliminated.
  - Jennifer McBride VanderKleut
    
    ..
  - Guest
    
    Thank you for following up on that. I wonder what meeting John Farrell actually attended?
    
    Perhaps he managed to sneak into a Boston Properties event, where they brainstormed solutions to force drivers into paid parking? I wish he’d mentioned whether there was evil laughter.
  - John Farrell
    
    Actually he said that, if is there wasn’t enough room on the street for both on-street parking and a bike lane, the “community” would chose which to have.
    
    Exactly who made up the “community” that would be making the choice was anything but clear.
    
    Thus, if the bike lane supporters pack future meetings in excess of the 0.5% of trips that they represent, the bike lane advocates could take the on-street paring away from the neighborhoods abutting Glade, Twin Branches, Colts Neck and North Shore Drive and take it away from the people who visit the Nature House, the Quarter Master soccer field, Glade and Lake Audubon Pools.
    - Guest
      
      Wait a minute. You say bicyclists are 0.5% of trips, but other people claim riders are 0.5% of residents.
      
      Which is correct?
- Guest
  
  Ah yes, evil organizers.
  
  “There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.” (Vonnegut)
LisaR

I applaud Fairfax County and the presenter for taking the time to lay out the proposed options. He reminded us that the county unanimously passed a master plan for promoting bicycling and that projects like this are part of the the implementation of that plan. We were also reminded through statistics that adding bicycling accommodations increases safety for all users- why wouldn’t people be in favor of calmer streets with more transportation options that are safer for everyone?
- ItIsWhatItIs
  
  People don’t always make decisions based on fact and instead resort to gut feel or myth. Many people make decisions on what they want to hear and don’t research the facts. Many people repeat myth as fact causing a snowball effect of the misinformation. Many people, when confronted with facts that counter their mythical interpretation, cry conspiracy.
- The Constitutionalist
  
  A simple search suggests that there are as many statistics against your statements as there are for them.
  
  There are more things at hand that we as personal economists should take into consideration than safety and calm.
  - LisaR
    
    And these “simple search” statistics are? Right, they don’t exist.
    - The Constitutionalist
      
      You can feel free to read the book: Effective Cycling, by John Forester, where he makes many arguments as to why bike lanes are bad.
      
      Here’s a link that does a decent job of explaining why we DON’T need bike lanes in America:
      https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/bike-to-work-4-best-of-all-worlds-together/
      
      There’s more, but I don’t think you’ll look, you’ve already made up your mind. That’s okay though, discredit my argument by saying it doesn’t exist, while citing no sources of your own.
      
      The consensus, by experts (obviously not you or I), is that bike lanes are worse than just widening the curb lane, which makes everyone safer.
Andy J

I ride several times a week on several of these roads. I feel much safer on Lawyers and Soapstone – both which had road diets and added bike lanes. I often use Colts Neck on these same rides and just last week had a large truck pull a stunt that would not have happened with a single lane in each direction. Luckily my head is on a swivel on Colts Neck and was able to see the situation unfold. The driver was skilled enough also but I’d rather not rely on a skilled driver and my looking backwards to avoid something better design would bring. The amount of traffic on Colts Neck is minimal also with most traffic either driving through or turning into the shopping center. I applaud a road diet so I can be safe and get home to my 3 kids.
- LisaR
  
  Bike lanes would not be needed if drivers would respect the law, which is that cyclists have a right to use the traffic lanes. When cars are parked on streets like North Shore, a rider has to move out into the lane to avoid an opened car door, which can be fatal. This delays a driver just a few seconds, and those few seconds should never be the currency against someone else’s life. We all just want to get home safely.
  - Mike M
    
    Again, we see two themes, neither of which make a lick of sense:
    1) Cars are bad; bikes are good.
    2) If me and my fellow 0.5% want something at everyone else’s expense, we should get it and that’s “progress.”
    - The Constitutionalist
      
      And the 99.5% must pay for it.
    - LisaR
      
      I’m sorry however cyclists also drive cars and pay for roads. Please try a different argument instead of this worn out one.
      - Mike M
        
        Scroll up.
    - Car owner
      
      It is a worn out argument. However a road diet isn’t aimed at bikes. It’s aimed at making a road safer. Bad road design does lead to bad behavior and in turn accidents/crashes. In the mean time, with more and more people wanted to bike/walk, as VDOT repaves the road (at everyone’s expense) there is an opportunity to change the configuration of safety and in doing so create a bike lane. That bike now has it’s own lane to ride and cars have their own lane all at 0.5% of cost if that.
      - Mike M
        
        Sorry, but cyclists who ride on the main roads also use the roads. Most of us do not. Yet we are being asked to pay for this extra for the interest of a few. It’s a pretty basic and valid argument. You cannot bike all of the time nor to all of the places you’d want to go around here. It is simply unsafe. Encouraging bikes and cars to operate in the same space is dangerous.
- John Farrell
  
  Then you obviously haven’t had the near-death experience of try to make a left in one of these suicide lanes while a vehicle is approaching you at high speed using the suicide lane to pass slower opposing traffic.
  
  Nor have you had to choose between that head-on collision and getting side-swiped by vehicles over-taking you on your right when opposing traffic in the suicide lane wants to make a left into a street that is behind you.
  
  Happens to me on Soapstone and Lawyers about once a week.
  - Car Owner
    
    Once a week is a stretch. I would suggest alerting FCPD to post patrol cars to monitor this. VDOT has shown the Lawyers Road diet have cut crashes tremendously.
Bike Rider

I am a cyclist and attended the meetings but didn’t get a sense there was any organized attempt to bring bike lanes. I heard several apparent cyclists say they ride to the town center from that area; a new family say they moved there for Reston’s continued support of biking and walking and another person say the trails aren’t ideal for bicycling as they are twisty and up/down (not sure the last person was a cyclist or not).
- LisaR
  
  Reston has a decent trail network however it is a) not contiguous and b) not conducive to transportation by bike. Many of the places are isolated and users may not feel safe. The trails are also hilly at grades that are challenging to some riders, especially those who may be inexperienced. The public needs to understand that cycling is a legal, legitimate form of transportation and that cyclists have the right to use nearly every in the state. This proposed project is nothing but positive for the community.
  - 30yearsinreston
    
    Allowing bikes on walking trails will cause accidents and injuries
    - Mike M
      
      Putting bikes on the roads with cars, . . . ? Where is your head?
      - LisaR
        
        Except that bikes are legally allowed on nearly all roads in the Commonwealth. This is the law of the land.
      - Mike M
        
        OK. Now let me explain the laws of physics, . . . http://www.thewashcycle.com/2010/04/reston-bicyclist-critically-injured.html
        
        Perhaps the laws of the land should conform.
      - Biker
        
        Putting cars on the roads with bikes,…? Where is your head?
      - Mike M
        
        Sorry you don’t like reality. As was stated above nearly everyone in this suburb drives. The whole thing was designed for driving and the reasons for that will not change. I think it’s funny that some of the lefties in here (or just selfish bicyclists) think that’s progress. Holiday in Cambodia.

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