A wider W&OD trail is up for funding, but again faces opposition

A proposal to widen the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Arlington has reached the next phase to potentially get funding. As with the last time it came up for public review, it’s also facing some pushback from people, under the banner of concern over trees and the environment.

Last time, county leaders rejected that dichotomy. “People who are concerned about preserving nature and open space and trees and are concerned about the impacts on the environment, and those that are interested in cycling and that use alternative modes of travel for commuting, are both part of a larger sustainable society and a much much bigger picture of overwhelming environmental good,” said Arlington’s late county board member Erik Gutshall last November.

Gutshall was pointing out a paradox when self-described environmentalists oppose a project that encourages people to bike and walk instead of drive. He was responding to comments that widening the trail (with pavement) would require cutting down some trees. Opponents also argued there should have been more public engagement.

At that meeting, the county board unanimously agreed to support NOVA Parks’ petition for funding to widen the trail. The board pointed out that when (and if) the project got funding, there would be more detailed design work including public engagement, which the board would insist on. It would also have to comply with all federal, state, and local environmental protections.

This project is part of Arlington’s Master Transportation Plan and Public Spaces Master Plan, the board also noted, both of which are products of robust community engagement.

What the project would do

As I wrote last November, NOVA Parks (the regional park system that runs the W&OD Trail) wants to widen the trail and provide “dual paths” to separate people walking and biking where possible. The project, which would be completed in fiscal year 2025, would run from North Carlin Spring Road to North Roosevelt Street, where it would connect with current projects to widen the Four Mile Run Trail in Benjamin Banneker Park and the W&OD Trail in Falls Church.

Before the pandemic, the trail had enough users to cause congestion, particularly during afternoon rush hours and on the weekends. During the pandemic, most days see large crowds on the trail.

To fund the project, NOVA Parks has applied for approximately $5.5 million from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), as part its biannual six year program update. This year, NVTA expects to allocate at least $400 million to a variety of multi-modal transportation projects that aim to relieve congestion.

NVTA is considering 41 applications for this year’s update, and will consider public comment on these applications until May 24. The funding is expected to be allocated at the NVTA meeting on July 9.

Some oppose a design over details that don’t yet exist

As happened in November, some people have come out against the project to widen the W&OD Trail, claiming that the project will require trees to be felled and will cause more stormwater to flow into our streams. Peter Rousselot, an Arlington resident and frequent opponent of urbanist efforts, wrote an opinion piece against the project on ArlNow.

Rousselot claims the trail will be widened to 20-26 feet, including “outside buffers”. He further stated,

This project will destroy almost two acres of green space while adding almost two acres of impermeable paved surface, including within Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas (RPA’s) and flood plain along Four Mile Run, threatening increased flooding in Arlington’s BonAir and Bluemont parks. NOVAParks has failed to conduct an “alternatives assessment” of less expensive and environmentally destructive solutions. Finally, NOVAParks has failed to conduct any safety assessment of whether its proposed wider trail, with potentially higher bicycle speeds and volume, will actually increase bicycle speeds, and therefore the frequency and severity of accidents.

Others have repeated similar claims in opposition to the project.

However, Rousselot here is objecting to plans that don’t exist and to steps in a process that are yet to come, not failed or neglected as he implies. As the county board pointed out in November, any capital project must first identify funding to move to the design phase. This project is just now applying for funding, and, thus, does not have accompanying designs.

The designs would specify what surfaces would be used, how wide the trail would be in each location, how much natural area would need to be disturbed to build that trail.

Much of the trail is currently separated from trees and other natural habitat by more distance than the trail could be widened, because there are power lines above the NOVA Parks land. Thus, one would not expect the project to have much impact on natural habitat.

Safety was discussed by the board, county staff and NOVA Parks staff at the November meeting. Staffs of both organizations made clear that, generally, mode separated trails have better safety records, and that safety will continue to be a consideration as this project enters the design phase.

Importantly, once NOVA Parks creates an actual design, those plans will have to comply with federal, state, and local environmental protections, involve robust public input, and need county board approval before anyone can build anything. This includes an alternatives assessment to a no-build alternative, which the board specifically told the county manager to conduct once there are designs to compare.

The trail can help both residents and the environment

Rousselot and other opponents are jumping the gun with their claims, for a project that can benefit the environment and Arlingtonians.

First, Arlingtonians want trails like this. The Bicycle Element of the county’s Master Transportation Plan and its the Public Spaces Master Plan (PSMP) both recommend widening the trail. These are long term planning documents that came out of extensive public engagement.

In preparing the PSMP, the county conducted a statistically valid survey to gauge community needs around parkland. In that survey, 87% of households said there was a need for paved, multi-use trails, and 73% said they were the most important outdoor facility for their household — the most of any potential project they were asked about.

Second, similar work shows that this project will likely improve the park’s stormwater performance. In a project on the W&OD Trail in Falls Church, which included widening it, NOVA Parks said it made the land hold more stormwater, not less (the main stormwater fear around paving) by including new planting features that absorb more water in less space than regular grass-covered land.

We are working on improving the W&OD with dual trails (parallel paths for pedestrians and cyclists). While we are widening the trail for a better experience, we will also be improving the stormwater performance of the Trail property.https://t.co/nKZ1BqwLfE

— The W&OD Trail (@WODTrail) November 18, 2019

Widening the trail ranks highly on NVTA criteria

Many of those people using the trail — particularly those on bikes — are eschewing a car trip. Every time a person chooses to walk or bike instead of driving — to get ice cream, to get groceries, or to go to work — is a net gain for our environment and a reduction in street congestion on parallel routes, like I-66.

Also, this project would significantly enhance first and last mile connectivity to the East Falls Church Metro station and would connect to both the Custis and Bluemont Trails, which allow people to easily to connect to Ballston, through the Orange line corridor, and on to DC.

NVTA is required to evaluate projects under a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria, targeted to measure “Congestion Reduction Relative to Cost.” Evaluations for the 41 projects currently under consideration are summarized on NVTA’s website, and the W&OD widening ranks as the 18th best project under the NVTA’s analysis, precisely because it will shift trips away from cars, at a relatively low project cost.

NVTA wants to hear from the public

The NVTA is considering this project along with 40 other applications for funding, and will consider public comment on these applications until May 24, 2020. The funding is expected to be allocated at the NVTA meeting on July 9, 2020.

You can add your voice to this discussion by emailing the NVTA by Sunday, May 24. The project is the “Arlington W&OD Trail Enhancements” sponsored by NOVA Parks.

There are also 40 other projects, some strongly worth considering as well, and residents can (and should, if they have opinions) comment on those as well.