The 20' Clear Width rule in the Virginia Fire Code is preventing the installation of protected bike lanes and making new sidewalk installations politically infeasible in Arlington.   It is blocking street designs that would naturally calm traffic and provide pedestrians a refuge when crossing busy streets.  The fire code explicitly gives County leaders the ability to grant exceptions to this rule to meet our public safety goals (such as Vision Zero) but the County lacks a transparent policy or process to do so.

We are asking the county to work with the community to develop a transparent, thoughtful process to grant exceptions to the 20' Clear Width Rule to allow safer street designs to meet our Vision Zero goals. For more info on the 20' Clear Width Rule, see Modern Mobility: Balancing Fire Safety and Street Safety.