State funds will turn the W&OD Trail into a dual path in Falls Church

In April, the TPB approved $274,250 to partially fund the creation of separate W&OD trails for people on foot and on bikes on a section between N West Street and Little Falls Street in the City of Falls Church. Now the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority has allocated $3.2 million to pay for the rest.

The current 10-foot wide shared-use trail will be replaced by an 11-foot wide bicycle trail and an eight-foot wide pedestrian trail with a two-foot wide median in between. It will run for 1.2 miles from the bike bridge over W. Broad Street to east of Little Falls St. In addition, substandard curb ramps at the six street crossings along the way will be updated and the existing narrow wood-deck bridge over Four Mile Run will be replaced. The project will be launched next year and completed by late 2020.

Implementation efforts currently include updating all six street-at-trail crossings on the improved route in the City. Four of the crossings are being updated by City teams with funding from the City’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), and the remaining two will be updated in conjunction with the Founders Row mixed use development project that was given its final approval by the Council earlier this fall and will be paid for by the developer.

Broad and West are in spitting distance from one another, so I'm not sure exactly where the west end is. 

This is just part of what Falls Church wants to do with the trail.

Currently, the City staff and NVRPA are working jointly to implement the City’s master plan for the W&OD Trail, according to City officials. The separated walking and biking trails is one part of that master plan, which also includes improved crossings at street intersections, plazas and resting places that tell the history of the W&OD railroad predecessor to the trail, restored and native landscaping and added lighting. 

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority identifies the project as among the first in a phased effort to improve levels of service along congested portions of the W&OD Trail. 

It is seen as a broader effort to “encourage non-motorized transportation” by extending hours of use to include commuting hours, and includes in the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) plan to widen Interstate 66 and construct a 20-foot wide W&OD Trail bridge over Lee Highway (Rt. 29) so that trail users will no longer have to cross hazardous lanes of traffic.

Comments

[Pepper Burly]

This is fantastic news! I'm very excited for the extra room. I'd love to see the same thing for the Mount Vernon Trail. At least between Memorial Bridge and 4 mile run intersection.

[huskerdont]

It is good news, and with any luck, more people here will be good at observing the mode separation than they have been pretty much everywhere else in the U.S. I've been where they've been given the opportunity. But even with those that ignore it, the trail will still be improved. It's too crowded on weekends to be safe.

I'd be happy for the MVT if it were simply repaved to get rid of root heaves and get it back to its original width.