Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

Transportation safety is the #1 local government issue I hear about, so if you share that priority, you’ll want to read on about Vision Zero and Complete Streets – what they mean, how it will be different, and a few specific projects coming soon in Winter Hill and at Great Falls/Little Falls using this approach. I have always tried to make city decisions based on facts, data, and a test and learn approach – so in a nutshell, it’s that mindset applied to transportation safety. This was met with much enthusiasm and meaty discussion with the rest of City Council this week and we’d welcome your feedback.

In the midst of more tumult around us (for example, we are working regionally on the issue of SNAP benefits expiring in a week and WIC benefits in 2 weeks due to the federal government shutdown) – we had a small moment of love and joy in the Little City this week: check out the permanent LOVE Sculpture on the grounds between City Hall and Cherry Hill Farmhouse this weekend.

Three calls to action:

• Election Day is 10 Days Away: if you haven’t voted yet, I encourage you to get informed before voting. The final City Council candidate forum of this season was held this week – the first forum in a multifamily building with so many new faces!
• Halloween Bike Parade – calling all spooky kids and adults – join Falls Church Forward at our 3rd annual Halloween Bike Parade on Sunday afternoon. Walk, run, ride, or roll in your costumes with games and candy to follow. Details here.
• Safer Streets and Playground Upgrades: read on about transportation safety and how to share your input on the next playground upgrade!

Take care,
Letty

What Happened This Week:

(1) Vision Zero, Complete Streets, and ADA Plan

We welcomed members of the Citizens Advisory Committe on Transportation (CACT) in a joint work session on adopting Vision Zero and Complete Streets policies as an overarching, comprehensive strategy on how we approach transportation safety. We also discussed a long awaited ADA self evaluation and plan.

1/ What is it?

Vision Zero is a movement and strategy that aims to have a goal of zero fatalities or serious injuries on roadways, formally adopted by many cities. Likewise, Complete Streets is a broad approach to
planning, designing, building, operating, and maintaining streets that enables safe access
for all people who need to use them, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. If you’re a fellow transportation geek, you’ll know that Vision Zero and Complete Streets are not new and many jurisdictions nearby and across the US have adopted the approach.

2/ How is this different?

Rather than developing detailed guides for both VZ and CC, staff is recommending a pragmatic approach that draws on the best practices from elsewhere and building them into our existing projects and programs. Specifically 3 components:

• Monthly working group with public works engineers and crews, police, and planners that uses crash data, hot spots, near miss data to proactively inform safety projects and a focus on “quick hits” – a cadence of a project every 4-6 weeks.
• Complete Streets Toolbox
• Safety Culture

3/ Projects Coming Up:

You may have seen recently completed projects like the curb extensions at Sherrow/S. Virginia, speed bumps on S. West, new Hillwood sidewalks, and new bike lanes at Roosevelt.

Two more that are coming up – specifically at Annandale/Gundry in response to the stop sign running concerns in October and converting the Great Falls/Little Falls intersection to a 4 way stop in November.

This is in addition to larger, CIP-level projects underway like Greenway Downs Traffic Calming project starting in November, the traffic circle at Maple/Annandale, and new intersections upgrade at N. Washington/Columbia.

Letty’s Thoughts: While we’ve long had a goal of providing transportation for all modes (see 2014 Comp Plan chapter), this priority has been elevated the past 5 years as economic development has picked up. Walkability isn’t just being able to safely travel on sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes – it’s also having destinations to walk to and we’re now closer than ever to the concept of a “15 Minute City” where you really can get your daily needs met in a 15 minute walk. bike, or transit ride. And as more people experience our streets, we all have more demands of how our streets should work for all modes. This work of upgrading our 1940s car-oriented city – that was not originally built for walking or biking (see streets that don’t have any sidewalks at all) – takes a lot of time, dollars, and patience. Transportation projects have been the largest component of our capital investments and are a visible way to see your tax dollars at work. That said, street projects also are messy! All of the projects above will be a bit disruptive and inconvenient – but know that they are anchored in the priorities we’ve heard from the community.

(2) Playground Upgrade Coming

Share your feedback on the next playground replacement at Cavalier Trail Park.

Over the past 5 years, we’ve been making steady progress upgrading many of our parks such as Big Chimneys and Berman Park, new pocket parks in the commercial areas, and acquiring property at Fellows Property for a future park and floodways for open space and future trail connections.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, October 27 – City Council Meeting*

Wednesday, November 5 – Ask the Council Office Hours (City Hall, 9 am)

Monday, November 10 – City Council Meeting*

*Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings

Letty’s Office Hours:

Tuesday, November 18 (5 pm) – Harvey’s