on the joys of being an advocate (October Newsletter)

Advocacy is uniquely dynamic work. Some days are extra fun—riding out to engagements across Northern Virginia and getting to ‘talk shop’ at meetups with bicyclists like you. Others are more mundane—reading through voluminous technical reports and spending countless hours at committee and commission hearings. It’s all critical and worth it, to keep you abreast of the news and opportunities to make bicycling better in Virginia.

Throughout September, I had occasion to serve another, slightly different role—your ambassador at important stakeholder and coalition forums where WABA:

• helped plan and facilitate a panel discussion on local trail-related challenges and opportunities with key agency staff at the Northern Virginia Regional Commission Recreational Trails Summit on September 5th & 9th;
• ed and took took part in discussions on the intersection of active transportation, housing, and conservation at the Virginia Conservation Network partner retreat on September 17-18th; and
• joined land managers involved with the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail to discuss how we can collaborate more effectively to build out our interconnected trail network at a partner roundtable on September 26th. 

While Virginia Organizer isn’t an elected role, I try to approach it with a similar seriousness and consideration, to honor the trust you have put in WABA. My goal is to ably represent your interests in those strategic spaces when and where you can’t be present, to be that ever-present voice for our shared vision of more liveable, bike-friendly communities. 

All this to say, it’s been quite a busy month! Read on below for more news, opportunities to shape how we get around now and in the future, and some upcoming fun. 

Good news

• No links to this quiet bit of good news yet but the Falls Church City Council unanimously voted at their September meeting to move forward with the updated Bike Master Plan—if all continues to go as planned, we could be looking at bike lane construction next fall in critical corridors like N and S West St! Huge kudos to the local Bike Falls Church advocates for their tireless work — if you’re a Falls Church resident who isn’t yet plugged in with BFC, I encourage you to do so today. 

Future of transportation

• Check out our blog post on the ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan expected to guide the development of Fairfax County’s bike and trail network for the next decade. Open houses have concluded but an additional round of virtual meetings is coming in November and the interactive map and community survey are open through December.
• Arlington kicked off the reimagining of its Master Transportation Plan with a first meeting of its Advisory Committee (chaired by Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County founder and frequent WABA collaborator Chris Slatt) on October 1st. The community survey and pop-up events calendar won’t be released until 10/7 but we wanted to share the exciting news anyway – check back here next week.
• Two upcoming opportunities to learn about short- and long-term plans for the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. First, tune into a webinar highlighting the results and next steps of a recent wayfinding and amenities report on 10/20. Then on 10/29, join the public meeting to learn more about possible trail routes through Loudoun County. 

Take action  

• Send a quick message supporting bike-friendly redesigns for King Street/Bradlee Shopping Center and Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria before City Council votes on 10/8 and 10/19. Or go a step further and testify in support, virtually or in-person. 
• In Fairfax County, two important corridors are slated for road diets. Tune into a virtual public meeting to learn more about the redesign of Huntington Avenue on 10/9 and voice support for the Annandale Road redesign before 10/11.
• Weigh in on the redesign for Rosslyn’s Gateway Park, now through 10/20. Doesn’t fully address connectivity issues in this complicated corner of Arlington but is pretty dang nice.
• Learn about two VDOT projects in Arlington County – the North Glebe Road Bridge Replacement (10/28) and Arlington Boulevard Safety Improvements (10/30) – both expected to improve walkability, bikeability, and overall safety.

Other things to do

• Join the 9/11 National Memorial Trail Alliance for a fundraising walking tour from Crystal City to the Pentagon Memorial this Saturday, October 5th. 
• Register for the 9th Annual Tour de Mount Vernon on Saturday, October 19th! We’ll be out at the finish line under the Capital Trails Coalition banner – be sure to stop by and say hello!
• Join the Tysons Trek & Treat challenge now through November 10th to earn chances at weekly $250(!) raffle prizes just by walking, biking, and rolling around Tysons. 
• Lastly, come explore Prince George’s County trails during WABA’s famed Cider Ride on Saturday, November 2nd featuring fall foliage, donuts and, of course, apple cider!

More to come, including opportunities for advocates to gather and celebrate. As always, feel free to email me with your questions, concerns, and thoughts.

—Kevin O’Brien, Virginia Organizer