Hence their affectionate nickname, "little Loudoun".Originally Posted by americancyclo
Likes: 8
Dislikes: 0
ELITE: 2
Academy Award Nominated Member
Hence their affectionate nickname, "little Loudoun".
I really need to log off the internet and go for a ride.
As someone from a neighborhood in Arlington with incomplete sidewalks, it was "required" that sidewalks and curbing to be added to get the street repaved. I don't think foisting sidewalks on us will really make the neighborhood any more pedestrian friendly--people just walk in the streets and it is perfectly safe. The bike lanes proposed in the plan are for streets with 25 mph speed limits--and often these streets have big speed sensor sign with your speed displayed. Given how Falls Church seems to think that half its budget should be paid through traffic tickets, cars tend to not significantly exceed this limits. I've ridden these streets without bike lanes and they seem perfectly safe.
I find it interesting that sometimes cyclist and pedestrian advocates seemed to want roads treated as shared space (see, for example the woonerf: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/au...html?hpw&_r=2&) and sometimes they think that segregation is appropriate. I guess I'm in the camp where segregation can be minimized on low traffic/low speed roads.
Academy Award Nominated Member
Agreed; I really hate seeing mature trees killed for sidewalks. But there's a big difference between a rational conversation about what facilities are appropriate for each street, and killing an entire safe streets effort because engaging in the planning process is too hard and it might take away some parking spots and the cyclists should be over on the W&OD anyway. I think it's safe to say that there are some streets in Falls Church that are fairly safe with no sidewalks or other facilities, and others that are terrifyingly dangerous and need safety upgrades. I'm not sure how you address the latter by killing any planning process that might affect the status quo.
Very Senior Member
Wow. Through the looking glass...
Queen of Family Biking & All Things Kidical
I love those areas (re: the NY Times article) in Europe, but one key to them is that there are fewer cars in them. Another is that drivers are familiar with these streets, and drive very slowly. I don't see that around these parts, even on "quiet residential streets".
The other thing is that my opinion of these residential streets with no sidewalks has changed dramatically through my work with APS. When thinking about a kid walking along a road to school, especially alone, you really want separation of modes unless the cars really truly drive slowly. So I'm all for more sidewalks unless we can reduce speed limits to under 20mph.
Regularly Contributing Member
Anthony's was never a huge favorite of mine, but I think it's a damned shame what's happening to them, and it's illustrative of my point above.
I really need to log off the internet and go for a ride.
I'm not in FCC either, just over the border, but I've only been to Anthony's once. Not really worth a second visit in my opinion.
I'd love to see a sidewalk where I live, but its a FFX county road signed at 20mph while people regularly pass my house at 40mph, about a block from a W&OD crossing.
There really aren't any good ways to get around in Falls Church City other than the W&OD though, particularly when you have a kid in a trailer.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks