Prioritize Trails in the Public Spaces Master Plan Refresh

Level of Effort: 5 minutes, at home, in your PJs

Deadline: Fri 10/17 11:59pm

Arlington's Public Space Master Plan guides how our open spaces are acquired, managed, and maintained. With the current plan over 6 years old at this point, the county is doing a refresh focus on a few key areas, including how to prioritize land acquisition.

We think it's worth highlighting how little progress has been made on the trail-related action items in the existing plan over the last six years. We also think the County should prioritize acquisition of land needed for bike/ped connections - this would accomplish two goals with one acquisition - a small piece of the parcel would be needed for a wider sidewalk or a trail connection, and the remainder could add new neighborhood park space.

Suggested Feedback

What would encourage you to use public spaces more?
- better snow clearing of public spaces & routes to and through public spaces
- more bike parking, including bike parking with sufficient clearance for family-sized cargo bikes
- more shade
- trails with a separate space for walking and for biking

Are we missing any amenities in the list above that are important to access by bike or on foot?
- pump tracks
- mountain biking trails

What kind of public spaces are needed in your community? Are there categories of properties (e.g. vacant lots, underused commercial sites, along streams, etc.) that the County should consider adding to the list of potential acquisitions? If so, what are they and why?
There are many areas of the county where additiona land is needed for trails and other bicycle & pedestrian connections. The county should prioritize these areas for acquisition, to provide both an important transportation link and a neighborhood park, meeting two important community needs with one acquisition.
Examples:
- addressing the gap in the 9th Street Columbia Pike Bike Boulevard between Wayne and Vietch
- addressing the gap int he 12th Street Columbia Pike Bike Boulevard between Barton and Scott Street
- addressing how the Custis Trail exit to Glebe Road near 14th St N provides no safe way to continue into the surrounding neighborhoods due to narrow, obstructed sidewalks (and no existing right-of-way to expand them to trail width)

Did we miss anything? Please use the space below to expand on any of your answers or share additional thoughts or considerations that we should consider.
Little progress has been made on the trail-related action items from the existing plan. Little to no progress on the "inner loop" or "outer loop", no exploration of pump track or cyclocross opportunities, no guidelines on trail lighting, no trail design standards, no expansion of trail use monitoring, no trail naming initiative, no comprehensive wayfinding standard, etc. When will these be made a priority?

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