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The Falls Church 29 Initiative
This Initiative came about through a collaboration between a group of concerned citizens in the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County who live on both sides of Route 29 as it enters Falls Church from the west. The corridor is a major commuter route, and between Graham Road and Tinner Hill Road, in particular, drivers tend to exceed the speed limit and pedestrians are unsafe. Sidewalks are broken and there are very few places to cross the road. The corridor has been studied several times, and plans have been prepared for its improvement, but by mid-2019 little progress had been made.
The group of concerned citizens created the Falls Church 29 Steering Committee, and from this citizens' group, the Falls Church 29 Initiative was born. The purpose of the Initiative is to bring together the residential and business community to ultimately improve this stretch of Route 29.
Progress to Date
During the summer of 2019, the steering committee connected with Virginia Tech’s Land Use Planning class in the Masters of Urban Affairs and Planning (MURP) program, who agreed to focus their efforts during the Fall 2019 semester on this stretch of Route 29, by studying the area and preparing a preliminary report (see Documents tab for report). This report lays the groundwork for cross-jurisdictional cooperation that we hope will eventually lead to grants for street improvements. In addition, the steering committee talked with representatives from the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County, Virginia. The idea was to initiate a process of citizen involvement that would strengthen the argument for corridor improvement. In the Fall of 2019, the steering committee-- together with the Virginia Tech students-- facilitated two community meetings to hear from residents and businesses, and to gather input for the Virginia Tech report. The report was shared with the steering committee in January 2020, and was subsequently shared with both the City and the County. To see the report, click on the Documents tab.
In 2021, we learned that Virginia's CTB (Commonwealth Transportation Board) awarded Falls Church City $6.4 million in funding for the S Washington Street Bus Stop Expansion and Access to Transit Project. This project will help achieve some of the outcomes that our group sought. In December of 2021, we learned that the City was awarded a $50k technical assistance grant by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for a project called the "S. Washington Street Planning Opportunity Area Pedestrian Network City of Falls Church." This project will conduct a study of the existing pedestrian network for the City’s South Washington Street Corridor Planning Opportunity Area (43.3 acres) to identify missing pieces of the pedestrian network, intersection geometric improvements, areas for improved lighting and pedestrian countdown signals, and areas that could benefit from traffic calming measures. Lastly, the City shared that traffic calming measures for the Greenway Downs neighborhood in the City, bordering Route 29, will be a highly visible top project in the next few years.
This Initiative came about through a collaboration between a group of concerned citizens in the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County who live on both sides of Route 29 as it enters Falls Church from the west. The corridor is a major commuter route, and between Graham Road and Tinner Hill Road, in particular, drivers tend to exceed the speed limit and pedestrians are unsafe. Sidewalks are broken and there are very few places to cross the road. The corridor has been studied several times, and plans have been prepared for its improvement, but by mid-2019 little progress had been made.
The group of concerned citizens created the Falls Church 29 Steering Committee, and from this citizens' group, the Falls Church 29 Initiative was born. The purpose of the Initiative is to bring together the residential and business community to ultimately improve this stretch of Route 29.
Progress to Date
During the summer of 2019, the steering committee connected with Virginia Tech’s Land Use Planning class in the Masters of Urban Affairs and Planning (MURP) program, who agreed to focus their efforts during the Fall 2019 semester on this stretch of Route 29, by studying the area and preparing a preliminary report (see Documents tab for report). This report lays the groundwork for cross-jurisdictional cooperation that we hope will eventually lead to grants for street improvements. In addition, the steering committee talked with representatives from the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County, Virginia. The idea was to initiate a process of citizen involvement that would strengthen the argument for corridor improvement. In the Fall of 2019, the steering committee-- together with the Virginia Tech students-- facilitated two community meetings to hear from residents and businesses, and to gather input for the Virginia Tech report. The report was shared with the steering committee in January 2020, and was subsequently shared with both the City and the County. To see the report, click on the Documents tab.
In 2021, we learned that Virginia's CTB (Commonwealth Transportation Board) awarded Falls Church City $6.4 million in funding for the S Washington Street Bus Stop Expansion and Access to Transit Project. This project will help achieve some of the outcomes that our group sought. In December of 2021, we learned that the City was awarded a $50k technical assistance grant by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for a project called the "S. Washington Street Planning Opportunity Area Pedestrian Network City of Falls Church." This project will conduct a study of the existing pedestrian network for the City’s South Washington Street Corridor Planning Opportunity Area (43.3 acres) to identify missing pieces of the pedestrian network, intersection geometric improvements, areas for improved lighting and pedestrian countdown signals, and areas that could benefit from traffic calming measures. Lastly, the City shared that traffic calming measures for the Greenway Downs neighborhood in the City, bordering Route 29, will be a highly visible top project in the next few years.
