Crossing the street in Falls Church City can be (or can feel like) a life-or-death gamble. Unlike our neighboring counties, it's perfectly legal here to park a huge SUV right next to a crosswalk, so when you’re using that crosswalk it’s impossible to see oncoming cars until you stick your neck out into traffic.The marked crosswalk to Lincoln Park (picutred) is a prime example.
Local laws and design standards shape the perceptions and reality of our safety walking, biking, and driving around the City, but /many of those laws and standards have grown outdated. Some conflict with recent state law, while others fall short of best practices proven by other Virginia jurisdictions. City Design Guidelines, which shape critical decisions like pedestrian connectivity, were last updated 23 years ago. Our City code on bicycles has not been substantially updated since 1993.
Improving sidewalks and striping bike lanes will make our City safer and more comfortable for people on foot, on bikes, and in cars alike, but that’s not enough. We need to revamp the laws and standards that shape the safety of our built environment. City Council should task staff to begin modernizing our laws and standards to better align with other Virginia jurisdictions' updates. Multi-modal transportation experts, including Bicycle Friendly Communities, Walk Friendly Communities, AARP Age Friendly States and Communities, offer helpful guidance to help make communities like ours safer for all people moving through public spaces .
For bicycles and small personal vehicles, both Virginia law and technology have changed dramatically since our bicycle code was updated. Virginia law declares that bicyclists on sidewalks or shared-use paths like the W&OD have the rights and obligations of pedestrians; meanwhile, our local law says that bicyclists are always treated as motor vehicles. In Falls Church, our laws could permit a business on Broad Street to force children riding home from school to ride in traffic, not on the sidewalk. The Bicycle Friendly Community criteria penalize applicants with laws that force bicyclists to either make unsafe decisions or stop riding - like these two examples from Falls Church. Technology and the popularity of e-bikes and scooters soared in the last decade, our City Code and planning documents do not fully account for them. The City started making strides toward a shared mobility devices pilot program in 2019, but that effort has languished since the pandemic. You may notice shared scooters and bikes abandoned along the City's borders. Since they're not yet permitted to operate in the City, the power cuts out. Your ride's over. Welcome to Falls Church.
Surrounding cities have gotten serious about fighting the nationwide surge in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and injuries by enacting Vision Zero plans that guide budget decisions and giving their bicycle master Plan teeth. Meanwhile, the City's 2015 Bicycle Master Plan languished for years. The new 2024-2025 Council Priorities (which refer to Vision Zero) and the coming 2024 Bike Master Plan are a chance to right this.
Best practice according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials is to build bicycle facilities suitable for people of “all ages and abilities”. Bike Friendly Communities advises zoning that requires bicycle parking minimums for all building types, allows bike parking to substitute for car parking minimums, includes secure parking with charging for e-bikes, designates shared scooter parking areas, and requires end-of-trip facilities such as showers and lockers.
For pedestrians, our laws sometimes prioritize cars over the safety of people walking. Permitting predatory towing encourages people to drive from one half-empty parking lot to another, rather than walk. Cooperative parking agreements such as the one between Northside Social and the Park Towers Condos deserve praise and duplication. In Fairfax County it is illegal to park within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk or 10 feet of a driveway, to ensure appropriate sight lines for safety. Falls Church has no such law. We have a legacy of narrow sidewalks with obstructions like utility poles, wheelchair-hostile driveway ramps, and overgrown landscaping. We compound this by allowing fences and walls to be built up to the sidewalk. People walking and biking have a “shy distance” to obstructions so a fence next to a sidewalk makes our narrow sidewalks feel even narrower. Alexandria is using authority granted by Virginia in 2023 to install “Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk” signs at all crosswalks and is expanding “no turn on red” restrictions. The “Yield to Pedestrian” signs that Falls Church once had at crosswalks have been hit by cars (not a comforting indication) and dragged away without replacement. The new W&OD Trail crosswalks explicitly exclude using any of these signs.
Our laws and standards shape whether walking is convenient. We have many commercial and multi-family parcels that are separated by fences while Walk Friendly design focuses on permeability and connectedness. Walking or biking to Eden Center from the Falls Green Apartments would be safer and faster if a fence didn't separate those parking lots. Behind the Broaddale Starbucks, you'll notice a “desire path” among the jumble of curbs and fences because people want to be able to walk from the Farmer’s Market to Starbucks or Rare Bird by the shortest route possible. Even the direct route follows a sidewalk, at crosswalks in the City cars are given priority. Pedestrians are required to press “beg buttons” and wait for a walk signal. Other jurisdictions have removed the beg buttons in recent years, demonstrating to everyone that pedestrians are welcome and expected every time the light changes. Our City code and design guidelines can encourage better connectivity and make walking attractive to more people, which means less traffic and a healthier, friendlier City.
The opportunities described here, an incomplete list of what the City should consider, will also benefit drivers. Most drivers want to know the rules and do not want to hit someone. These changes would clarify those rules and make everyone’s behavior more predictable. Global evidence shows that streets that are safer for bicyclists and pedestrians are also safer for drivers. Most people injured in crashes on our streets are in cars (though none of those killed have been). Finally, making walking, biking, and transit more attractive will lead to fewer car trips. This means less traffic and more parking for those who must drive. If I drive to the Farmer’s Market or a local business, I use a parking spot that could've gone to a customer from D.C. or Fairfax. It’s better for our economy if I can easily and safely walk 10 minutes or bike 3 minutes. Drivers, businesses, and taxpayers benefit from a community that is more friendly for walking and biking.
What do you think? Is our City safe enough for all kids who want to bike to school? Are there places you’d walk or bike, but you don’t because there’s no comfortable, direct route? While we’re modernizing our City with construction projects, shouldn’t we also modernize our code and standards to do all we can to encourage safe mobility for all modes of transportation? If you think so, ongoing public engagement will be needed to hold Council and Staff to the promises of the 2024/25 Workplan to implement Vision Zero and Complete Streets…not just in name but with smart and thoughtful changes to roads, public spaces, and laws required to realize a safer and more welcoming City.