A planned pedestrian bridge that will move the W&OD Trail over — rather than across — Wiehle Avenue at Sunset Hills Road will take extra time to build because a half dozen electrical poles must be relocated, Fairfax County transportation officials said.
The overpass will cost $10 million (money for it was allocated by the county several years ago) and will be completed by 2021, says Scott Ruffner, Fairfax County Department of Transportation Project Manager.
Moving the utility poles will be an 18-month process, he said.
The Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road intersection is being targeted for pedestrian improvements by the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. The public is invited to hear more at a public hearing Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods.
That location, never a smooth one for motorists and pedestrians, has become more crowded — and sometimes dangerous — since the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station opened just south of it in 2014.
It’s the confluence of two major roads, increasing development, a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Station, a popular fast food area, and the W&OD pedestrian and bike trail.
The county is planning a new pedestrian bridge to improve vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian access near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station as noted in Reston Metrorail Access Group’s (RMAG) plan.
Says the county:
The bridge will be located on the W&OD Trail and extend over Wiehle Avenue replacing the existing at-grade crossing. The new bridge will accommodate both the gravel path and asphalt W&OD Trail at this location.
Minor roadway, sidewalk and median modifications will be made to Wiehle Avenue at this location to accommodate the bridge.
Several utility relocations will be required for the project site along with the installation of drainage and stormwater management features.
The bridge is expected to cost $10 million, said project manager Scott Riffner.
The project is part of the Third Four-Year Transportation Program that was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2012.
FCDOT is seeking public feedback about the bridge’s potential design elements. Find out how to give your feedback.
Here is a tentative project schedule:
- Public Hearing, Winter 2016
- Document Completion, Winter 2016
- Public Hearing Design Approval, Spring 2016
- Land Acquisition Completion, Spring 2018
- Final Design Approval, Winter 2018
- Utility Relocation Completion, Summer 2019
- Construction Completion, Winter 2021
See graphics below to get an idea of what the footbridge may look like.
Bridge Renderings by Karen Goldberg Goff
Renderings of foot bridge/Courtesy FCDOT
Plans for a pedestrian bridge that takes the W&OD Trail over Wiehle Avenue are taking shape.
The bridge will help ease chaos at that intersection, which is where Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue meet and where emergency vehicles continually enter and exit a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Station.
It is also just North of the Wiehle-Reston Metro and its accompanying foot and car traffic. The trail itself is a popular walking, running and biking path.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation now has a timeline. The agency is holding a public meeting March 17, 6:30 p.m. at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods.
The bridge is expected to cost $10 million, said project manager Scott Riffner. The bridge will replace the street crossing and will accommodate both the gravel path and asphalt W&OD Trail. The FCDOT also plans minor roadway, sidewalk and median modifications will be made to Wiehle Avenue to accommodate the bridge and the necessary drainage and stormwater management features.
The project is part of the Third Four-Year Transportation Program that was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2012.
Here is a tentative project schedule:
- Public Hearing, Winter 2016
- Document Completion, Winter 2016
- Public Hearing Design Approval, Spring 2016
- Land Acquisition Completion, Spring 2018
- Final Design Approval, Winter 2018
- Utility Relocation Completion, Summer 2019
- Construction Completion, Winter 2021
Rendering of W&OD Bridge over Wiehle Avenue/Credit: FCDOT
Reston is becoming a transit-oriented community, so the streets surrounding transit centers should be laid out urban style.
Without connecting streets the provide better pedestrian, car and bike access, Reston traffic jams could be a much worse problem in the future.
That’s what will be discussed tonight at a meting of the Reston Network Analysis Group. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Lake Anne Elementary School, 11510 North Shore Dr.
The Reston Master Plan calls for an urban-style layout of streets near Silver Line stations at Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Town Center (which will open in 2020). County officials have organized the Reston Network Analysis Advisory Group to get feedback from citizens about about the plans for the street grid.
The new street layout is one of a number of transportation improvements planned for Reston. Among the others: a Soapstone extension to carry cars across the Dulles Toll Road and alleviate traffic on main roads such as Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive; and a Capital Bikeshare network slated to open in about a year.
Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has appointed an advisory group made up of citizens and development reps to study the new street grid layout.
The group has been looking at existing conditions, and is especially concerned with mitigating congestions on Reston Parkway; Sunrise Valley at the Fairfax County Parkway; Spring Street at Fairfax County Parkway; and Rock Hill Bridge (Herndon).
The analysis group has been studying what traffic will be like in Reston in 2050 if congestion is unmitigated. The group is using a figure of 100,000,000 square feet of development, more than three times what it is today.
The group determined that 42 key intersections in Reston will be at an “F” grade for traffic movement.
Take a look at the existing conditions report here:
Reston Network Analysis Umitigated Results: Jan. 11, 2016 from Fairfax County
Residents can also comment online on the Reston Network Analysis page.
See more about the committee’s analysis in the presentation below.
Reston Network Analysis: Existing Conditions from Fairfax County
Photo: Traffic on Reston Parkway/File photo
Fairfax County Department of Transportation crews are working on a sidewalk project that will better connect the W&OD Trail with the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.
Construction workers are building sidewalks on the north side of Sunset Hills Road from the trail to Michael Faraday Court. At Michael Faraday, the south side of the street’s sidewalk begins. It takes pedestrians to the crosswalk and light near Reston Station Boulevard and Metro/Reston Station access.
The work has affected the center turning lane, which has been blocked off this week as the concrete was poured.
The sidewalk is one of more than a dozen county and state transportation departments, as well as developers, are undertaking to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to Metro. In December, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors also approved nearly $11 million for 18 more projects to boost bike and foot access to nearby Metro stations.
Several development applications have been filed to turn office areas off of Sunset Hills into residential developments, which means more people from the areas west of the Metro station will likely be walking along Sunset Hills.
Road crews have been busy for weeks along Soapstone Drive from Glade to South Lakes Drive.
They are working on a Fairfax County project that will add sidewalks to one side of Soapstone.
It’s an addition that has been discussed for years as that stretch of road is fairly busy and is in a densely populated area but has no place for pedestrians. There is parking all along the westbound shoulder of the road. The sidewalk will run on the east shoulder.
The project, funded by the county several years ago, adds approximately 3,000 linear feet of 5-foot wide concrete sidewalk.
Crews are also adding related construction items such as asphalt pavement, drainage improvement, curb and gutter, excavation, and minor traffic signal work, handrail installation, and pavement markings.
The project is expected to be completed in February, Fairfax County says.
This is project separate from the one planned to eventually build a Soapstone Drive extension for autos and pedestrians over the Dulles Toll Road.
Fairfax County Department of Transportation officials were at South Lakes High School on Monday to give a progress report on the planned extension of Soapstone Drive.
The Soapstone Connector will provide an additional overpass of the Dulles Toll Road with the goal of easing traffic on south Reston roads, particularly in the area of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.
Just don’t look for it to be built any time soon. While a feasibility study was conducted in 2013 and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a hybrid design from among several options in April of 2014, no funding has been designated.
FCDOT’s Audra Bandy also said the project needs to go through the environmental review process, which will take about a year. That will include looking at land use, community impact, traffic, safety, noise, water quality and other environmental factors over the next 12 months.
“This is a very important connection for [FCDOT],” Bandy said Monday. “We really need to find ways to relieve traffic.”
Some of the most critical needs: alleviating bottlenecks along Wiehle Avenue at Sunset Hills Road and Sunrise Valley Drive; providing direct access for buses across the Dulles Corridor and to Wiehle-Reston East without requiring travel on Wiehle Avenue; and offering improved connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists to the Metro station from points north and south of the Toll Road.
In 2014, the supervisors included $2.5 million for the preliminary design of this project as part of its Six Year Transportation Project Priorities. At that time, they also put the project — estimated to cost $91.75 million — on the county’s list of high-priority projects for 2015-20.
An exact price tag won’t be known until the connector is farther along.
According to the preliminary plans, the road, which will have three lanes approaching the bridge and four lanes on the bridge, will require demolition of several office buildings on Association Drive. Bandy said that cost will not be assessed until after Fall 2016.
Several area residents attending Monday’s meeting had concerns about the project. Among the questions — why was the environmental study not done prior to the feasibility study.
“The feasibility study just looked at if it is feasible,” said Bandy. “The [environmental impact] is what we are looking at now.”
Presently, the impact is only being studied in the immediate area of where the connector will be built. But the study will expand depending on which factor is being studied, officials said.
Residents also pointed out concerns with traffic flow, particularly on Soapstone, and lack of connectivity with the W&OD Trail.
