Prepare for a sea of orange cones. With spring quickly approaching, Virginia Department of Transportation officials are gearing up for re-stripping, road redesigns, and new bike lanes on multiple Reston roads this year.

Roadwork will take place from April through November. The Virginia Department of Transportation is holding a public meeting on plans on Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in Terraset Elementary School‘s cafeteria.

In response to residents’ concerns about safety along the South Lakes Drive corridor, the county plans to redesign a strip between Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive by converting an outside travel lane to a buffered bike lane — a move the county hopes will address concerns about limited sight distance for vehicles turning onto Sunrise Valley Drive and pedestrian traffic.

Bike lanes on South Lakes Drive between Reston Parkway and Sanibel Drive would be extended. The county will keep one travel lane in each direction due to the limited projected impacts of future development on traffic in that area.

Other plans include adding or expanding bike lines on Bennington Woods Drive, Bowman Towne Drive, Explorer Street, Lawyers Road, Pinecrest Road and others. South Lakes Drive, Bluemont Drive and Fountain Drive are slated for redesigning.

A complete breakdown of plans in the Hunter Mill District is below:

• Bennington Woods Drive: Addition of bike lanes.
• Bowman Towne Drive: Addition of northbound bike lane, southbound shared line markings and striped parking lanes on both sides.
• Bracknell Road: Addition of buffered bike lanes between Stevenage Road and commercial driveways.
• Explorer Street: Addition of bike lanes. On-street parking on both sides of the street will remain.
• Fountain Drive: Road redesign to “increase traffic safety.” There will be one travel lane in each direction, with one dedicated left turn lane and buffered bike lanes.
• Stevenage Road: Addition of buffered bike lanes between Bennington Woods Road and the northern Home Depot driveway and Reston Parkway. Existing parking restrictions will not be changed. Timed parking will remain.
• Temporary Road: Addition of bike lanes.
• Walnut Branch Road: Addition of eastbound buffered bike lanes and westbound shared lane markings.
• Lawyers Road: Extension of existing bike lanes west to Reston Parkway and upgrades to existing shoulders between Twin Branches Road to Hunter Mill Road to buffered bike lanes.
• Pinecrest Road: Addition of buffered lanes between South Lakes Drive and Glade Drive. On-street parking will remain.
• Ridge Heights Road: Addition of bike lanes. On-street parking will remain. “Extra wide” parking lanes will be provided for school bus parking.
• Soapstone Drive: Addition of buffers to existing bike lanes.

In addition to attending the meeting, residents can submit online feedback. A complete list of impacted is online.

Photo via Fairfax County Government

Following paving on North Shore Drive, the appearance of stop lines at the intersection with Temporary Road had residents believing a three-way stop was coming soon.

It turns out, however, that is not the case.

Jennifer McCord, media relations specialist for the Virginia Department of Transportation, tells Reston Now the lines were painted on the road “erroneously” and will soon be removed.

“There is no stop sign going in with the repaving,” McCord said. “[The lines] are scheduled to be removed next week.”

More than once this year on Reston Now, readers have commented about their desire to see something done about what they feel is a dangerous intersection.

Beginning Monday, traffic and parking on North Shore Drive will be limited as re-paving work is done.

According to signs posted on the road, the work is scheduled for July 10 through Aug. 10. Parking limitations will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day while the work is being conducted.

The work will be done on the entire 3.53-mile length of the road. As part of the re-paving project, lines will be painted on the road to create bike lanes and add sharrows.

Paving projects have already been completed this season on North Village Road and a small portion of Wiehle Avenue. More paving will take place this summer on roads including Colts Neck Road, Glade Drive and Twin Branches Road.

Drivers who use the northern end of Wiehle Avenue will want to set aside another couple of minutes starting the day after Memorial Day.

Virginia Department of Transportation signage on the road indicates scheduled milling and re-paving will begin Tuesday morning. It is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays after that.

The good news for drivers? The work shouldn’t take long. Only a small amount of the road will be re-paved: about 500 feet on the east side of the intersection with Fairfax County Parkway and about 700 feet between Reston Parkway and Reston Avenue.

Bigger re-paving projects are planned for Reston later this season, including on Colts Neck Road, North Shore Drive, Twin Branches Road, Glade Drive and North Village Road.

Work to rehabilitate bridges and close joints on Reston Parkway will affect drivers this weekend and next.

The bridges over the Dulles Toll Road will have the work done Friday night through Monday morning each weekend, causing delays and detours in the area. In total, the closure schedule is:

• 10 p.m. tonight through 9 a.m. Sunday: Southbound two right lanes closed
• 8 p.m. Saturday through 3 a.m. Monday: Northbound two right lanes closed
• 10 p.m. Friday, April 28 through 9 a.m. Sunday, April 30: Southbound two left lanes closed
• 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29 through 3 a.m. Monday, May 1: Northbound two left lanes closed

While the northbound work is being done this weekend (8 p.m. Saturday through 3 a.m. Monday), traffic traveling in that direction will not be able to make the left turn onto the westbound Dulles Toll Road. Those cars will be detoured via Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue.

The work will include bridge deck resurfacing, repair of deteriorated concrete on abutments and piers, repaving of the roadway leading up to the bridges, and joint closures. In addition, the southbound bridge will receive repairs to the concrete barrier that separates the road from a shared-use path.

All work is weather-permitting, the Virginia Department of Transportation says.

According to VDOT, the northbound bridge was built in 1959, and the southbound bridge was constructed in 1976. Both were widened in 1989, with the northbound bridge’s deck also replaced at that time.

As part of the overall project, the Monroe Street/Van Buren Street bridges and the Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride ramp bridge are also scheduled to have work done at a later date. All work is expected to be completed by summer, VDOT says.

A number of Reston paving projects have been scheduled by the Virginia Department of Transportation for this year.

According to VDOT’s website, more than 1,300 miles of roads will be repaved in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun and Arlington counties during the 2017 paving season. Among the scheduled projects are the following locations in Reston:

• the entire length of North Shore Drive (3.53 miles)
• the entire length of Colts Neck Road (1.82 miles), excluding the intersection with Glade Drive
• 1.93 miles of Glade Drive, from Glade Bank Way to Twin Branches Road
• 2.21 miles of Stuart Mill Road, from Fox Mill Road to Birdfoot Lane
• 1.07 miles of North Village Road, from Baron Cameron Avenue to Hollow Timber Way
• the entire length of Twin Branches Road (.85 miles)
• the entire length of Triple Crown Road (.43 miles)
• .13 miles of Wiehle Avenue, from Reston Parkway to Reston Avenue

In addition, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation has plans to make alterations to lane patterns and bike lanes on North Shore Drive, Colts Neck Road and Twin Branches Road as part of the repaving process. A community meeting on this issue is scheduled for March 16.

VDOT’s website shows the only repaving work completed in Reston in 2016 was along a stretch of Baron Cameron Avenue, from Leesburg Pike (Route 7) to near Browns Chapel Road.

Other roads in the area on the 2017 schedule include portions of Centreville Road, Frying Pan Road and McLearen Road in Herndon; and Lee Jackson Memorial Highway (U.S. Route 50) at the Fairfax County Parkway interchange.

VDOT says repaving work is “usually limited to outside of rush hours,” with work in residential areas typically scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Check VDOT’s interactive map for more.

Map via VDOT

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

Local officials are looking to hear from the public about proposed bicycle lanes for Reston’s Hunter Mill District as the Fairfax County Department of Transportation gets ready repave streets in the area.

Members of the public are invited to a community meeting in the Terraset Elementary (11411 Ridge Heights Road) cafeteria on Monday, Nov. 14, to discuss the possible bike lanes, as well as other ideas to enhance safety for traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians in Reston.

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.

County officials note that any alterations to the streets are limited to striping changes made during repaving.

The community meeting will last from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

For more information, including a feedback form, visit the Hunter Mill Bike Lanes project page on the county’s website.

Image via Fairfax County

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