After years of work and several long rounds of public engagement, Arlington has a new draft transportation plan!  There is a lot to like in the draft, and our primary goal is to make sure it stays intact from here to adoption.  The curb-space hierarchy prioritizes safety and building out the bike and transit networks over parking; it recognizes the need for enforcement and prioritizes our enforcement efforts on those laws that have the greatest safety impact; it supports EV charging not just for cars, but e-bikes and e-scooters as well. That said, there are a few details that we think still need work to get right around safe accommodations for those walking, biking, and scooting during construction as well as small important links in the Micromobility Network.

Safe Accommodations During Construction

A lack of safe accommodations for people walking, biking, and scooting through construction projects has been a long-standing issue in Arlington.  While there are policies and strategies addressing this (see page 44 of the draft plan) we don't feel they are sufficiently actionable and clear.  There is nothing in the draft strategies that would necessarily be inconsistent with one of the most egregious construction failures we've recently seen - when work was being done on Hayes St at the intersection with Fern Street, the sidewalk was closed and pedestrians detoured into the protected bike lane, the protected bike lane was closed with no reasonable detour given, and FOUR lanes of car traffic remained open (two in each direction).  We need a clear policy that temporary facilities must match the safety, convenience, and functionality of the original sidewalk or bike facility and that full facility closure and detouring on the other side of the street or on a different street is only permitted when alternatives are completely unfeasible.

Missing Links in the Micromobility Network

We also think there are some important links missing in the Micromobility Network.  This is the ultimate network that we'll be building toward over the next 30 years, so it is important to get it right.

Eads / Route 1 Barrier Between Four Mile Run & 23rd St

The micromobility network map doesn't show any way to travel east-west across Eads Street & Route 1 between the Four Mile Run Trail and 23rd St S.  There is an existing narrow sidewalk that connects Fort Scott Drive to 27th St S using the crosswalk across Eads at Fort Scott Drive and the traffic signal on Route 1 at 27th St S, but it is too narrow to be safely shared and the sidewalk on Route 1 between the crosswalk and the pedestrian link is dangerously narrow.  This should be called out as an important micromobility link on the network map and the county should work to acquire the necessary land to widen and improve this link.

West-Side Glebe Rd Alternative in Ballston

Micromobility is only the 3rd priority on Glebe Road after Pedestrians and Transit, is only a priority in the core of Ballston, and the County has previously released a study declaring protected bike lanes on Glebe infeasible.  That makes it criticically important to have parallel routes for micromobility users as alternatives to Glebe.   The draft micromobility network shows useful parallel links on the West side of Glebe North of Fairfax Drive and South of South Carlin Springs Road, but leaves a gap between Fairfax and Carlin Springs.  We believe this gap should be filled. The under-construction Ballston Holiday Inn redevelopment is building a new trail connecting Fairfax Drive to North Wakefield Street.  That new trail + micromobility priority on Wakefield, across Wilson Blvd at the existing light, turning east onto 7th St S and then South down Vermont Street to Carlin Springs Road would allow micromobility users to navigate this portion of Ballston without waiting for potential facilities on Glebe.

Access for Upper Green Valley

The northern portion of Green Valley (north of Glebe Road) remains largely cut-off from the Micromobility Network under the draft plan.  To the east is the largely impenetrable Army-Navy Country Club; to the South is Glebe Road which is not in the Micromibility network to travel across, nor are any micromobility links shown across it; to the West is more Glebe Road, and a tiny stretch of Walter Reed Drive, which may get micromobility facilities from its "priority three" status in the future, but providing safe access for micromobility users to Green Valley at 17th St S would be tricky, especially for southbound travelers, due to the proximity to the Glebe Road intersection; to the north a disconnect between 16th St and 17th St S, penetrable only via a narrow, scary sidewalk in the vicinity of Edgewood Street.  We think that the existing sidewalk between 16th St and 17th St S should be shown as a priority link on the micromobility network and that the County should seek the land needed to widen it to a safe, shared facility to provide access to this neighborhood.