Both Arlington County and the City of Falls Church applied for recognition as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists this year. The lengthy application process helps communities capture their progress and identify areas of improvement, while designation can bring needed attention and generate momentum to invest more in bicycle infrastructure. And you have a role to play! Community members are invited to share their thoughts and experiences via survey, now through next Friday, October 20th. BFC awards will be announced in December.
Read on for more ways WABA is supporting better bicycling in Northern Virginia, and how you can join in!
Some things we did 📣
- With our friends at the People Before Cars Coalition, we urged Arlington County to ensure a maximally useful bike/pedestrian bridge between Crystal City and DCA. We also urged the airport to more seriously consider bike, pedestrian, and transit connections before reworking its roadways and building a new parking garage.
- Testified in favor of stronger bike parking policies in Fairfax County (written, video) during the Parking Reimagined hearings. While the changes to parking minimums were watered down a bit before final passage, it still marks a seismic shift for car-centric Fairfax and establishes bike parking minimums for the first time!
- Celebrated the many safety improvements slated for the GW Parkway and Mount Vernon Trail while flagging a few key areas that would take the design from good to great. A new public comment period is open now, stay tuned next week for a joint action alert with allied organizations.
- Experienced some good, some great, and some not-so-great bike infrastructure during the first Crystal City Bike Ride (pictured above) as work to build out the Crystal City Bike Network continues. A short loop followed by long conversations at The Freshman – special thanks to everyone who joined!
- In other celebratory news, we honored three of Virginia’s own at last week’s WABA Awards (complete list here):
- Andrew Olesen (left) was presented with the Community Advocate Award for his tireless organizing work in Falls Church including launching Bike Falls Church as a welcoming activist hub for all things biking in the little city.
- Developer JBG SMITH’s Jay Corbalis (center, left) was presented with the Business Leader of the Year Award for his work with the People Before Cars Coalition and supporting the build out of the Crystal City Bike Network.
- Alexandria Complete Streets Program Manager Alex Carrol was presented with a Public Leadership Award for her work taming the City’s streets and ushering through a resolution in support of the Capital Trails Network. Alex’s colleague Bryan Hayes (right) accepted on her behalf.
Action alerts 🚨
- First, GO VOTE! Polls are open now through 11/4 ahead of the 11/7 General Election. Our friends at the Virginia Bicycling Federation put together a handy bike-focused state candidate questionnaire and WABA, with our Fairfax Healthy Communities partners, put together a non-partisan questionnaire for Fairfax Board of Supervisors candidates.
- Take a short Virginia Statewide Trails Plan survey on how you use trails.
- Share your experiences using a specific trail (the ever-popular Mount Vernon Trail).
- Alexandrians, share your thoughts on the King Street-Bradlee Safety & Mobility Enhancements.
- Arlingtonians, weigh in on a multi-use trail on Long Bridge Drive (to one day connect to the bridge!).
- Fairfax folks, help FCDOT prioritize bike and pedestrian improvements for funding.
Other things to do 🚲
- Learn to ride or brush up on your skills – registration now open for WABA’s fall classes (various dates)
- It’s not too late – register for the Tour de Mount Vernon (Saturday, October 21st)
- It’s not too early – register for WABA’s fall classic, The Cider Ride (Saturday, November 4th)
Also stay tuned for details on an upcoming gathering where we can talk about developments around bike buses and e-bike rebates, celebrate recent wins, coordinate on upcoming projects, and (gulp!) start looking ahead to opportunities in 2024.
Want to learn more about what WABA is up to in Virginia, share an idea, or just want to chat? As always, you can reach WABA’s Virginia Organizer via email or sign up for a slot during his weekly office hours.