Bike-Walk-Roll Projects Tracker

Neighborhood traffic calming across multiple roads between Rt 29 and Seaton Lane. Affects official bicycle routes but no bicycle-specific improvements planned. Traffic calming will benefit bicycling.

New signal and pedestrian improvements at Columbia St and N Washington St. Bike Master Plan process not run / no public input on changes to this bicycle route.

Phase 2 to be delivered in FY25 with additional coverage of commercial areas and OSE. Soon the operational costs of CaBi will fall to the City, though developers have funded some stations.

Major road redesign on Lincoln Ave, east of N West St. In concept phase. Affects N Oak St and Great Falls bicycle routes to W&OD and connection of Arlington's buffered bicycle lanes on Fairfax Drive.

City secured a grant to study a bicycle link from West End Park on the W&OD north of Broad St to Mustang Alley, possibly via the Offutt Drive route identified by CACT. Included in Bike Master Plan

The first 2025 Bike Master Plan priority route is N & S West St. Preliminary concepts show painted bike lanes and parking on one side, though block-by-block design and more community engagement is needed.

Shared use path from the W&OD to Mustang Alley along Shreve and Haycock Roads. Includes traffic calming and crosswalk elements as well. Two projects, split by W Broad St, being designed by Fairfax County but in the City.

Ongoing City project to complete sidewalk connections in high-need areas and bring sidewalks up to ADA compliance.

Upgrades to sidewalks along Broad Street to widen them and create more space between pedestrians and moving cars.

Signals on Broad and Washington Streets have been networked together. Ongoing grant-funded work will optimize timing to improve traffic flow while disincentivizing speeding.

Projects being built in 2025 on bicycle routes likely include Great Falls St (Little Falls to W&OD) and Grove Ave. S Oak St by Oak Street Elementary may be upcoming.

BRT on Broad and Washington is likely to run in shared car-bus lanes; no improvement for bicycling

Traffic calming, streetscape, and sidewalk improvements between Washington and Virginia. Includes sharrows and added bike parking.

Will be the City's first roundabout; bike lanes will merge into the roundabout vs. having an "exit option" to the sidewalk. On pause due to City Staff shortage.

Utility undergrounding, streetscape improvements, bike/ped improvements. Ideally will link to planned Arlington bicycle facilities on Langston Blvd.

New light and crosswalks; unclear if bicycle facilities have been considered on this bike route (no readily available public data)

New light and crosswalks; ideally extends bike lanes from Hillwood Ave to Annandale Road and transition to the Intermodal Plaza sidewalks

When rebuilding the Property Yard on Gordon Rd, the City's initial plans show adding a bike/walk link from Gordon Rd to the W&OD Trail.

Rebuild of roadbed; best opportunity to add bike lanes on Park Ave between the W&OD (West St) and Virginia Ave

Rebuild of roadbed; best opportunity for adding bike lanes or moving the curb for new/widened sidewalks to link downtown to W&OD and McLean/Arlington

New light and crosswalks; ideally supports bike lanes on N West St

New light and crosswalks; ideally improves bicycle facilities on Hillwood Ave

New park/plaza spaces near road crossings on the W&OD. Potential opportunity for a permanent traffic garden (e.g., near N West St)

Lighting to make night use of the W&OD Trail safer; need to consider concerns of the neighbors and dark-sky / light pollution issues

Adult and youth bike education - beginning and/or advanced classes like city riding skills - offered by the City and run by WABA

Elementary School education on how to safely ride a bike, so every student has the opportunity to learn

A safe, park-like space to learn to ride a bike and then learn the rules of the road. Cute, fun, mini-roadway sized for kids.

Add bike lanes from Offutt Dr to W Broad St. Improves Safe Route to School and has almost no parking impact.

Convert E Broad from 4 lanes to 2 travel lanes, a turn lane, and bike lanes. Volumes fall within VDOT guidance for road suitable for Road Diets; would reduce need for speeding enforcement, make pulling out of driveways easier, and create a bike link to Eden Center

Link the W&OD to downtown with a bike lane in Little Falls St in lieu of low-utilization parking on one side. Would better entice W&OD riders into the City and would provide buffer/step off space for the narrow sidewalk.

A cousin to the W&OD south of Broad Street, linking S Maple Ave to the W&OD via several parks (City has done some studies on this)

Add protected bike lanes on Annandale Road using unnecessary travel lane space, with minimal impact on parking. Would provide a critical link to the southestern part of the City at low cost.

Add protection such as curb stops or bollards to bike lanes on S Maple Ave, Roosevelt St, and Hillwood Ave - none of which qualify as "all ages and abilities" without protection.

Rethink the automatic use of STOP signs every time the W&OD crosses a road. Consider federal MUTCD standards and recent examples from Alexandria (Mt Vernon Trail) and DC (Rock Creek Trail). The current design does not "command respect" - few bicyclists stop at the signs which is exactly what the MUCTD predicts will happen.

Bike to Work Day, Bike to School Day, Bike to Local Businesses, Bike to Worship, Bike to the Market, Kids Rides, Holiday or Event Rides

Hold most often "open streets" events on Park Avenue - like the formal Memorial Day parade, give people the opportunity to walk, bike, play, and chat in this public space.

Learn by doing: Use spray paint, chalk, and plastic flexi-posts to trial bike infrastructure for days or months.

Rework this intersection with the W&OD to improve safety. Remove the ability to make left turns across the trail when there is a WALK sign. Make Park Ave one way to simplify the intersection and make space to connect the W&OD to an all ages and abilities bike facility on Park Ave.

Remove the buttons you need to push to get a WALK signal. Particularly at W&OD and N West St where there is a high level of bike and ped activity and where users will often cross against a DONT WALK because the WALK signal does not appear.

Budget to promptly clear the W&OD after a snowfall to prevent icy accumulation. Clear bike lanes of snow. Enforce sidewalk clearing ordinance.

In 1968, the W&OD Railway was closed to make way for I-66. This allowed advocates to push for one of the early rails-to-trails projects in the US. The first section of the W&OD Trail opened in 1974 in Falls Church City. The Village Preservation and Improvement Society turned out to support this cutting-edge new trail by sponsoring plantings along the trail in 1976.

In 1987, when the City announced a plan to widen sidewalks on Broad Street to revitalize the area, residents organized to push for a W&OD bridge over Broad Street. The local advocates prevailed and the bridge was completed in 1992. It was later named Citizens’ Bridge, as “a testament to small-town government.”

Falls Church kicked off a bike/ped planning process in 2010. The plan was going to remove obstacles in sidewalks, add missing sidewalks, build a bicycle lane network, and establish safe routes to school. After two years of work, concerns about removing all on-street parking on Lincoln Avenue and Hillwood Avenue grew into strong resistance to the plan. With emotions running high, the plan was abandoned rather than modified though the thinking provided a foundation for later work.

The Economic Development Authority sponsored the addition of bicycle wayfinding signs to link the W&OD to downtown with “sharrows” painted on N Maple Ave, Little Falls St, and Park Ave.

The 2014 Mobility for All Modes chapter of the City’s Comprehensive Plan emphasized the City’s goals for supporting bicycling and walking for transportation while holding car traffic steady. This led to the creation of a Bicycle Master Plan in 2016. Key to its passing was a late-breaking addition to prioritize car parking.

Unique green bicycle racks were first installed in 2016 and codified, along with a more basic pole-and-loop style rack, as the required racks in the City's Streetscape standards. A Request-a-Rack program was started for property owners to request racks.

Bike lanes were painted on Hillwood Avenue, S. Maple Street, and Roosevelt Boulevard as a first step in implementing the Bike Master Plan.

The City brought the Capital Bikeshare program to the City and has continued to grow the number of bikeshare docks available. The City Council invited shared electric scooter operators into the City, but no scooter operators took the offer.

The long-planned Dual Trails on the W&OD were completed by NOVA Parks in 2021 – a first for the region and a world-class bike facility. BFC input played a key role in refining the painted trail markings to be clearer and removing the illegal stop signs on the trail at N West St.

NOVA Parks removed the stop sign at the (signalized) crossing of N West St and revamped the bike and ped markings on the Dual Trails to be more intuitive, responding to Bike Falls Church requests.

A VT studio class under Professor Buehler developed a report evaluating current conditions for bicycling in the City and some recommendations on future infrastructure. This work jump-started the bike Mastr Plan refresh.

Redesigned intersection at Hillwood Ave with plaza space and bike parking. Did not solve bicycle link from Tinner Hill / S Maple Ave to Hillwood Ave, though does provide fairly wide sidewalks.

Roll-out of 20mph speed limits on the majority of City roads. Roads not included initially are most future bicycle routes - they require roadway redesign before 20mph speed limits can be posted there.

Neighborhood traffic calming between Washington St and Cherry St due to speeding of 50-70mph. Is a key route in the Bike Master Plan but settled for only a mini curb extension due to lack of ability to get neighborhood consensus on anything more impactful.

Distinctive crossings with stamped brick, center medians, and narrower passages for cars. Installed stop signs for cars at Little Falls, Oak, and Spring but not Great Falls St.

Distinctive crossings with stamped brick. Could have gone further to better accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians together and provide a better bicycle connection to S West St.

Speed limits reduced to 20mph on all local roads. Through streets like Great Falls, Lincoln, and West to be considered for a 25->20mph reduction when traffic calming work is done.

Super sharrows on the one-way street plus contraflow painted bike lane. Built as part of a repaving and sidewalk completion project.

Updated Bike Master Plan added to the City's Comprehensive Plan. Reaffirms desired bicycle routes, sets a goal for winning a Bicycle Friendly Community Award by 2030, and a goal to provide "all ages and abilities" connections across the City.

Painted bikes lanes installed from W Broad St to Big Chimneys Park as part of traffic calming and efforts to improve stop sign compliance and crosswalk yielding at Gundry Dr.

Covered bike parking in front of City Hall, complete with bicycle repair station.

Buffered bike lanes to extend Fairfax's South St bike lanes across Hillwood Ave and up to E Broad St. These should become protected bike lanes one day to fully meet the all ages and abilities standard.

Sharrows repainted on N Cherry St (signed city bike route).

HAWK signals at Berry St, Fairfax Dr, and Oak St to make it easier for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross Broad St.

Solid green painted bike lanes installed when building the West Falls development central road in the Falls Church City portion. To be continued into the Fairfax portion and up to Metro.

FCEPTA-funded, volunteer-built project to build a miniature roadway at Mount Daniel for kids to learn to bike safely.