The document summarizes proposed bicycle facility plans for Franconia Road in Fairfax County, Virginia as part of an upcoming VDOT repaving project. It presents two options to add bike lanes by narrowing travel lanes from 12 feet to 10-11 feet wide. Community input is sought on the conceptual designs, which include bike lanes in one direction and shared lanes in the other direction for Option A, and slightly narrower bike lanes in both directions for Option B. The project aims to provide transportation alternatives through low-cost restriping during scheduled roadwork.

1. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Department of Transportation
Proposed Bicycle Facilities
VDOT Summer 2015 Repaving
Franconia Road
June 15, 2015

2. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Department of Transportation
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Overview
• Why are we here?
• What are we asking today?
• What projects are being proposed?
• Where are we in the process?
• What are the next steps?

3. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Why are we here?
• VDOT Summer repaving includes several roads in Lee District.
Opportunity to review pavement markings and street design.
Project limited to restriping existing pavement.
• Opportunity to provide transportation options, improve safety for all
road users
• Low to no cost for the County
Department of Transportation
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4. County of Fairfax, Virginia
What are we asking today?
• Your input and feedback
– Support, questions, concerns, ideas
Department of Transportation
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Photo Credit:
sundaystreetssf.com

5. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Project List
• Franconia Road
– From South Van Dorn Street to Craft Road
Department of Transportation
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6. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Bicycle Master Plan
Department of Transportation
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Adopted October 28, 2014

7. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Lane Diets
• A Lane Diet is generally described as narrowing travel
lanes from a roadway and utilizing the space for other
uses and travel modes. Does not involve reducing the
number of travel lanes.
• Benefits
– Providing transportation alternatives and options
– Increasing safety for non-motorized users
– Reduce speeding
Department of Transportation
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8. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Narrowing Lanes
• AASHTO Green Book (Transportation Engineering Guidebook)
– Lane widths may vary from 10’ to 12’. 12’ lanes should be used on higher speed, free
flowing, principal arterials
– Narrow lanes are adequate and have some advantages for roads under 45mph, with
signals- similar to Franconia Road
• Several studies suggest narrower lanes have many benefits
– NCHRP 330 “Effective use of Street Width on Urban Arterials”
• “all projects evaluated during the study that consisted exclusively of lane widths of 10’ of more
resulted in accident rates that were reduced or unchanged.”
– Midwest Research Center “Relationship of Lane Width to Safety for Urban and
Suburban Arterials”
• “A safety evaluation of lane widths for arterial roadway segments found no indication, except in limited
cases, that the use of narrower lanes increases crash frequencies. The lane width effects in the
analyses conducted were generally either not statistically significant or indicated that narrower lanes
were associated with lower rather than higher crash frequencies.”
– Florida DOT completed a study that found there is no measurable decrease in urban
street capacity when through lane widths are narrowed from 12 feet to 10 feet.
• This contradicts the Highway Capacity Manual that shows the capacity of a lane is reduced by 3.33%
for each foot of lane width under 12 feet
Department of Transportation
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9. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Franconia Road- Existing
South Van Dorn Street to Craft Road
Department of Transportation

10. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Franconia Road Option A
South Van Dorn Street to Craft Road
Department of Transportation

11. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Franconia Road Option B
South Van Dorn Street to Craft Road
Department of Transportation

12. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Bikes Lanes
• AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities
(2012)
– Minimum width: 3’ of pavement + 2’ gutter (5’ total)
• VDOT Road Design Manual: calls for 4’ of pavement + 2’
gutter (6’ total)
– Proposal A: designs is 5’ of pavement + 2’ of gutter (7’
total), one-way only
– Proposal B: designs is 3.5’ of pavement + 2’ of gutter (5.5’
total)
Department of Transportation
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13. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Where are we in the Process?
• Conceptual design underway
– Bike lane in one direction, sharrow the other
– Bike lanes in both directions, slightly narrower
• Not proposing to remove any lanes
Department of Transportation
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14. County of Fairfax, Virginia
What are the next steps?
• Gather community input tonight and over
next two weeks
– Comment Period: Open until June 30th
• Redesign plans as necessary
• Design completion: July 2015
• Projects go to construction Late
Summer/Early Fall 2015
Department of Transportation
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15. County of Fairfax, Virginia
Thank You
Questions/Comments?
adam.lind@fairfaxcounty.gov
Department of Transportation
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