Fairfax Transportation Referendum Approved

There may not be a lot of good news for local cycling advocates in last night's election results (The Governor-elect of Maryland has campaigned against the Purple Line which would have implications on the Capitol Crescent Trail extension, for example) but one bright spot is passage of Fairfax's Transportation referendum which includes about $6 million in bicycle and trail improvements (and much more for pedestrians) that would go toward meeting the goals in the recently approved bike plan. 

Strunk said county officials have identified 1,130 miles of roads and rural trails that can be reconfigured so bikes are able to use them. A lot of that will happen during repaving projects, when county workers will redraw traffic lanes to make space for cyclists, he said. Other, yet-to-be-funded projects would convert pedestrian trails so cyclists can also use them.

County officials hope some funding for the effort will come from a $100 million transportation bond referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot that would allocate $6 million for bike projects and $78 million for pedestrian projects that might also be bike-friendly.

“I think the community is ready to . . . invest money in bike transportation,” Bulova said.

Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), who recently (and uncharacteristically) voted in favor of the county's bike plan has opposed the referendum and shown reservations about the bike program in general.

He said he was concerned that some bicycle paths are taking up more space than they need to, citing a recently built path on Lorton Road that is 30 feet wide and, he said, cut into homeowners’ front yards.

The Post might have gotten this wrong here. The path is not 30 feet wide. Herrity opposses 30 feet dedicated to bike and ped facilites along the road. That's two 5' wide bike lanes, two 5' wide sidewalks plus clearing zones along the sidewalk (which is also green space). He also voted against the bond referendum. 

Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) was one of two dissenting votes.

Herrity said that he is supportive of trails but the scope and extent of what is proposed in suburban areas do not make sense. "I’m not anti-bike and anti-pedestrian."

Herrity gives the proposed improvements on Lorton and Silverbrook roads as one of the concerns he has for voting against the transportation bond. The county’s proposal calls for about 30 feet of shared paths and bicycle lanes. "You don’t need 30 feet of right of way for bicycles and pedestrians ... That’s three lanes," he said.

Comments

[T]

Actually Hogan rides and was known to join Chip Depaula on some rides back in the day. I'm not sure he will be much different on the Purple Line given financing was the primary issue these days.

[T]

Should add the LG-elect's campaign manager is an avid cyclist (Randy Nixon) living in western Howard County. Hopefully he accepts a position somewhere in MDOT and can serve as the cyclist voice of reason or at least influence some of the decisions.

[PdE]

Gov elect Hogan may be a cyclist but he campaigned heavily on cutting taxes and expenses. The dollars allocated for the Purple Line are an easy target and the people that will be angered are MoCo and PG voters who went heavily for Brown. Hogan's republican predecessor revived the ICC when we all though that it had been effectively killed. I fear that the "more lanes of concrete is better" mentality will prevail in this next administration and that the Purple line will end up dead. In the end the NIMBYs in Chevy Chase may prevail.

[Mike]

As far as I can tell, Herrity voted for the bike plan so he can claim to be bike-friendly while continuing to vote against any money for bikes, pedestrians, parks, or anything that doesn't involving paving more lanes for cars.