Comment Letter: Shreve Road Shared-Use Path & Haycock Road/Route 7 Intersection Projects

On June 11th, WABA joined Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, Bike Falls Church, and Fairfax Families for Safe Streets to provide joint comments on FCDOT's proposed improvements to Shreve Road and the Haycock Road/Route 7 intersection.

You can view this document in PDF form here.

Public Comment on Shreve Road Shared-Use Path and Haycock Road/Route 7 Intersection Projects (11 June 2025)

To: Fairfax County leaders, City of Falls Church Council, Planning Commission, and Planning Department

We applaud Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church for investing in safer, multimodal transportation infrastructure and support the overall vision for the Shreve Road and Haycock Road projects. As community-based bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates, we urge the County to refine the current plans to match the area's evolving identity from a high-speed suburban arterial to a walkable, bikeable urban boulevard. In particular:

Narrow Overwide Travel Lanes: The proposed 11’+ wide designs along the whole project length exceed NACTO standards. The wide lanes will encourage unsafe driving speeds and preclude the addition of meaningful buffers for pedestrians and bicyclists. Reducing lane widths by even 1 foot could unlock space for buffers between cars and people and more consistent bike/ped separation.
Add Visibility and Protection at Conflict Points: Frequent curb cuts and turning conflicts create substantial risk for bicyclists particularly with a two-way cycle track (see well-documented 15^th St NW example in DC). The design must include raised crosswalks, green-painted crossings, minimum curb radii, and better bike/ped separation to prevent collisions with turning vehicles, especially at the Giant parking entrances.
Extend the Haycock Shared-Use Path to Enable School Access: The path should be extended ~ 100 feet to align with the expected connection point of the shared use path being designed by the City of Falls Church to connect the W&OD to Mustang Alley and the Secondary Campus. Without this, the utility of both projects is reduced. Based on feedback from the two condo associations, the most likely feasible path end is just behind the Gates at West Falls condo wall.
Tweak Broad & Haycock Intersection: The oversized curb radius and wide lanes at the Giant corner encourage speeding and limits space for a separated bike/ped facility. The intersection should also include a separated, green-striped crosswalk for bicycles with appropriate signal timing and leading/protected intervals as appropriate as bike/ped volumes grow.
Connect Fully to W&OD Trail: Coordinate with NOVA Parks to maintain full path width to the W&OD and include signage (“Yield” and “Intersection Ahead”) and sightline improvements to ensure a safe, predictable trail interface.
Add Curb Extensions, Refuge Islands, and Painted Crosswalks: To prevent future tragedies — like the 2019 fatality of a mother walking with a child — we urge inclusion of:
- Pedestrian refuge islands on the other side of Magnolia St and at Mustang Alley. These are the main routes to students walking and biking to school and yet lack refuges.
- High visibility marking for the crosswalk at Hickory St (make this legal crosswalk safer)
- Flashing beacons (RRFBs) at all unsignalized crossings
- Larger, more effective curb extensions at Gordon’s Rd and the SW edge of the project. At the SW edge of the project there is a sharp curve on Shreve Rd. A curb and landscaping would encourage motorists coming around the curve into the urban Falls Church area to slow down and offers greater protection for people using the path. There is no need for a right turn lane here – traffic can wait a few seconds for the occasional cement truck if it prevents another tragedy. In the meantime, please implement optical speed bars ASAP per the Shreve Road study.
Join the Bike & Ped Path edges: Please do not leave grass between the two paths. An ADA-approved separation will reduce maintenance and create a safer facility. See appendix for an example.
Set max 25mph speed limit and 30mph design speed: Consistent with other thoroughfares in dense areas of Falls Church City, please set speed limits at 20-25mph and design the road for no more than 30mph. The IIHS notes, “the 25-mph speed limit commonly used in residential neighborhoods in the US may be too high for bustling city centers or other areas with large numbers of pedestrians.” The risk of death in a crash climbs steeply when cars exceed 25mph.

Please see attached for markup on the roll sheet to illustrate our concerns and recommendations. This is a promising project and the plans are already a massive improvement over what exists today. With targeted adjustments, it can become a model for transforming dangerous corridors into safe, inclusive, and connected streets for everyone.

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Submitted on behalf of: Bike Falls Church (BFC), Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB), Fairfax Families for Safe Street (FFSS)

Appendix to Public Comment on Shreve Road Shared-Use Path and Haycock Road/Route 7 Intersection Projects

Recommended design for cycletrack-adjacent-to-sidewalk

Removes the trip hazard of transition from pavement to grass, enables all path users to “cross over” in an emergency, and requires less maintenance than a thin 2-3’ strip of grass between the legacy sidewalk and new cycle track.

A bike path with trees and grass

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More about Active Fairfax Transportation Plan

Active Fairfax launched in 2020 to consolidate the county's various policies and plans guiding the development of trails and bikeways. WABA has worked with Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling and grassroots advocates across the county to ensure that the plan lays the groundwork for a robust bike network across the county.

The resulting draft map and Active Transportation Toolkit lay out a vision for where and what a comprehensive all-ages-and-abilities active transportation network could and should look like. What it does not do is fund or otherwise begin to build out this ambitious network – we’re certain to face a budget battle in the future, but hopefully one we’re well-equipped to win by having the right plan in place.

More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.