Community Corner

Mount Vernon-Area Bicyclists Could Have an Easier Commute

Current Route 1-widening plans call for wide curb lanes.

Local bicyclists could have an easier commute on Route 1.

The current Richmond Highway-widening plans call for wide curb lanes to accommodate both bicyclists and pedestrians near Fort Belvoir. Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB) chairman Bruce Wright says the organization as a whole supports the addition of wide curb lanes on Richmond Highway.

“We fully support the wide curb lanes on Route 1,” said Wright. “We would support bike lanes as well but they would need to be at least five feet wide, given the high speeds on Route 1.”

Find out what's happening in Mount Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling is a Vienna-based volunteer group formed in 2005. The organization has about 1,500 people on its mailing list who receive advocacy alerts and newsletters. Their main goal, Wright said, is to make bicycling an integral part of the transportation network in Fairfax County.

“We want to get people out of their cars and get on their bikes,” Wright said.

Find out what's happening in Mount Vernonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Route 1 lacks accommodations for bicyclists who want to commute on that highway.

"Route 1 as it is now is just not adequate for bicyclists," Belle View resident Mark Murphy said. "The curb lanes are narrow and traffic is heavy and fast. There are frontage roads along some parts of Richmond Highway, but they don't run consistently."

FABB has also met with the Virginia Department of Transportation to discuss projects on Telegraph Road, Mulligan Road, and Route 1, where bike lanes have been proposed.

“It’s a really important corridor for bicyclists, and there are very few options for bicyclists to travel down there,” Wright said.

The typical section in the current widening plan includes a 10-foot wide shared-use path on the north side of Route 1 that will accommodate both bicyclists and pedestrians, said Laura Miller, Fairfax County BRAC coordinator. The outside lanes of the roadway will also be widened to accommodate on-road cyclists.

US Bike Route 1 passes through the Route 1 corridor and there are no bike facilities set up on that particular route. According to Wright, wide curb lanes have been planned for Route 1 for a long time, but there has been a difference of opinion over which approach would be best suited for Route 1.

“[Some people say that] striped bike lanes provide a safer place for cyclists, but the other school of thought says wide curb lanes let motorists travel in the full width of the highway…and there would be less debris on the roadway,” said Wright.

However, some people feel that bike lanes would be better suited for Route 1.

"In my opinion, Route 1 should have striped bike lanes, but someone in VDOT did not want to promote bicycling on that high-speed roadway, and the 15 feet of space could readily be reallocated at a future time into an 11-foot travel lane plus a 4-foot bike lane," Allen Muchnick, Virginia Bicycling Federation board member.

Murphy agrees that wide curb lanes would help local bicyclists have a safe commute in the Mount Vernon area.

“Even minimal accommodations like wide curb lanes would make a difference for bicyclists on Route 1,” said Murphy. “There are a couple of stretches of Route 1 where no good alternatives exist but to use the main roadway — around Fort Belvoir, for example, because there are no side roads or frontage roads. You could really improve bicycle access and through travel by putting in wide curb lanes in that location. Another stretch is between Sherwood Hall Lane and Buckman Lane/Old Mount Vernon Highway. Wide curb lanes there would help bicyclists traveling between Hybla Valley and Mount Vernon.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mount Vernon