Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The state's policies and advocacy for cyclists earned it a high ranking from the League of American Bicyclists.
Virginia is one of the best states in the country to bike, according to new rankings from the League of American Bicyclists. But it still lags behind some other states in the Mid-Atlantic region. A combination of state policies and programs — including a state bicycle plan and a "Share the Road" campaign — and an active state bicycle advocacy group helped the state earn No. 16, behind places like Washington state, Colorado, Oregon and Massachusetts. Still, neighboring states fared better on the rankings list: Delaware was 5, Maryland was 11 and Pennsylvania was 15. The League created a list of 10 signs that show progress on bikeability for states, including more than 1 percent of the commuters using bikes, a measure of success Virginia …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Future of Route 432 through Vienna is unclear. What do you think should happen with the route?
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is zeroing in on a plan for enhanced bus service to help residents get to new Metro stations when the Silver Line opens at the end of 2013. More than 40 percent of the Fairfax Connector system will change in some way when those stations open, and officials are seeking feedback from residents to provide the best service possible. Wednesday night’s meeting in Tysons marked the end of the second round of public input sessions on the routes. FCDOT representatives conducted the first round in February, when many residents wanted to see changes to route layouts and bus frequency. The revised plan features more midday and evening bus service on Reston and Herndon routes. Officials also restored the …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
A special promotion is in effect Saturday and Sunday to encourage travelers to try out the new express lanes.
Sick of the gridlock around Vienna? Drivers this weekend can use the Interstate 495 Beltway Express Lanes for free — no E-ZPass required. The free weekend, April 6 and 7, is part of an educational campaign to encourage Beltway drivers to try the new travel option on the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway and see how the Express Lanes can work for them, according to the 495 Express Lanes project. In addition to two days of free travel, the Express Lanes will also lift the E-ZPass requirement. Drivers can travel on the Express Lanes with or without an E-ZPass and will not be charged a toll. At all other times, drivers are required to travel with an E-ZPass; carpoolers must have an E-ZPass Flex. Free Express Lanes travel is only available …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Improvements to Vienna station, among others, likely to be delayed as agency receives $8 million reduction in federal funding.
Sequestration will impact Metro’s long-term projects, likely delaying bus purchases, station improvements and possibly deferring the agency’s plan to replace its fare-card system with one allowing credit cards, according to a report from The Washington Post. The agency will receive $8 million less in federal funds as a result of the mandatory federal cuts. Metro had expected to lose as much as $12 million. It receives $150 million annually from the federal government, a number that is matched by local participating jurisdictions. • See: Sequestration to Affect Metro Maintenance, Long-Term Upgrades Metro is currently accepting bids from tech firms to develop a new system that would allow customers tap their credit card or mobile phone to …
Monday, March 11, 2013
Tuesday meeting will highlight six proposed routes, which officials hope will help residents and commuters better access Metro.
How do you get to the Metro? By the end of this year, the answer could be by bus. Six proposed bus routes will be the highlight of Tuesday's "Vienna At Your Service" meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Flame Room at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department. Fairfax County Department of Transportation members will be on hand to go over the routes. The county’s 2010 Transit Development Plan recommends 12 new routes be added to Tysons, McLean and Reston in concert with the opening of the new Metro line. It recommends 21 other routes be tweaked and six more be eliminated. Officials are seeking input on not only the routes themselves, but also on safety, access to bus stops and the length of the ride. The routes potentially coming to Vienna, …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Vienna residents have slightly below the region's average commute time of 34.5 minutes.
If you're sitting in traffic on Maple Avenue this morning, you should know you at least have it better than some other drivers in the region. While commuters as a whole in the Washington metropolitan area have the second-longest commutes in the nation, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average for Vienna's zip codes is slightly below the average for the DC area s a whole. The average travel time to work in DC was 34.5 minutes in 2011, according to numbers released by the bureau Tuesday. In Vienna, most drivers spend about 29.2 minutes commuting to work, give or take 1.7 minutes, according to data from Slate.com The longest commute time was found in the New York City metro area, with average commutes of 34.9 minutes—…
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The high-tech system will span 34 miles of roadway along I-66 from the District of Columbia to Haymarket, Va.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Governor Bob McDonnell announced a new high-tech system coming to Virginia's I-66 that is meant to help reduce congestion through better communication with drivers and improved traffic flow via lane control signs. The system, known as Active Traffic Management (ATM), is relatively new to American roadways, though it has been used on highways throughout Europe. "Conditions on I-66 in Northern Virginia demand the deployment of this innovative technology and commuters will benefit from improved safety and increased communication during incidents and congestion," Governor Bob McDonnell said in a press release. ATM systems continuously monitor traffic with high-tech tools like vehicle-…
Monday, March 4, 2013
Users can now walk or ride on Vienna trail from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling will be giving out free lights this week.
Sunrise and sunset will no longer bind walkers, runners and cyclists using the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. On Friday, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority extended the hours of the trail for the first time, posting nearly a dozen signs from Shirlington in Arlington County through the far town limit of Herndon announcing new hours of 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. The NVRPA said the decision was driven largely by the needs of commuters, who — especially during winter months — have no other choice but to use the trail after dark. Many of those commuters pass at some point through Vienna, the trail's midpoint between Northern Virginia's northwestern suburbs and the top of the trail near Arlington. “As we all look for ways to reduce our …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Project to widen bridge over Dulles Toll Road and add pedestrian facilities begins Friday, creating a single-lane traffic pattern through May 31.
A $3.4 million project to improve the Beulah Road bridge begins Friday, reducing the crossing over the Dulles Toll Road to a single lane for the next three months. On Friday, crews will install two temporary traffic signals on either end of the bridge on Beulah Road, which will direct traffic until the project is completed. Michael Gleasman, a Virginia Department of Transportation engineer, said the bridge is being widened to improve shoulder width and add pedestrian facilities. The bridge, which opened in September 1963, has never seen such a major overhaul; crews did routine maintenance repair, like deck patching, overlay and replacing elastometric joints, in 1996, Gleasman said. As it stands, the bridge has no pedestrian facilities. …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Vienna's Sen. Chap Petersen speaks out against proposal that would allow localities to impose a 1 percent income tax without voter approval.
The Virginia State Senate has passed a bill that would enable Virginia localities to create a local income tax to fund improvements to transportation infrastructure. Under the legislation, SB 1313, which is now awaiting review in the House of Delegates, local governments would be allowed to establish an income tax of up to 1 percent without approval from voters. The bill would affect the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. Current Virginia law dictates a jurisdiction’s residents must approve a local income tax in a referendum. The majority of Virginia localities, like Fairfax County, rely on road maintenance from the state, with the …
Tamara Harvey
7:14 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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