Tysons, a work in progress. Photo by Daniel Kelly on Flickr.

Walking in Tysons feels like horror without end. Or like central Paris. One of those two. It’s hard to say and it depends on where you are and who you ask. Here’s a look at the state of walkability in Tysons after 34 years of attempted reform, and a couple of suggestions.

A couple of weeks ago I embarked on a 0.4-mile voyage from the Greensboro Metro station to a nearby restaurant. The heart-tightening trek involved navigating the crosswalks of three busy, unsignaled intersections, a feat only accomplished by finding a gap between the multi-ton pieces of machinery hurling themselves through the three crosswalks on my route. It was a dismal experience for me, young and able-bodied, most likely it would be a prohibitively difficult experience for those who cannot accurately determine vehicle velocity due to age or disability. A sad reality for a county which prides itself on equity.

By contrast, over the weekend I traveled on the bike lane on Greensboro Road, a lovely, quiet, tree-lined trip on a street with a popular Fairfax Connector stop. Although the bus stop on one side lets you out on a narrow strip of land with no sidewalk, and the light at the bottom of the hill won’t change unless there’s a car so you stand there waiting until one shows up, the route is overall pretty nice for a non-driver.

So what is the state of walkability and bikeability in Tysons? How could it be improved? Here’s a quick look.

Mixed results

The history of walkability goals in Tysons dates back to when Fairfax County planners first began to prepare for the opening of the Silver Line in 1990, 34 years ago. At the time, county staff wrote that future development should “promote a…pattern that [encourages] a mix of uses in a compact, pedestrian-friendly urban form within walking distance of the rail station.” These goals were then further fleshed out in 2010 in Fairfax County’s Tysons Urban Center document which envisioned “tree-lined streets [that] connect neighborhoods” and a place where “people are engaged in their surroundings and a place where people want to be.” This document also laid out targets for car trip reductions, aiming for 22% of all trips in Tysons to be made without a car by 2030, and 31% by 2050.

To achieve these goals, the county took a multi-faceted approach that has included dramatic reductions to parking minimums for new developments; encouraging sidewalk improvements to make them wider, reducing block length, and increasing tree coverage; as well as incentivizing developers to add parks in new developments; to name just a few approaches.

Simultaneously, the county has also been attracting more drivers to Tysons through road widening projects. This includes a just finished $314 million project to widen Route 7 between Fairfax County Parkway and Tysons as many as 10 lanes in some locations. By comparison, the soon-to-be-built Tysons Community Center and associated 500 affordable housing units at The Exchange cost around $100 million, with $43 million coming from the county.

Unsurprisingly, the available data gives a mixed portrait of the results so far. The county estimates “the vast majority of people traveling to, from, around and through Tysons do so using private automobiles.” A 2021 poll from Tysons Reporter found that just 6% of respondents agreed with the statement “I find it pretty easy to walk where I need to around Tysons,” and 53% agreed with the statement “I don’t find the Tysons area walkable at all.”

The Fairfax County Tysons Market Study puts the walk score at a respectable 57, which is on par with cities like Cleveland. That same study, however, puts the bike score at a paltry 43, which just narrowly edges out Corpus Christi, Texas.

Defenders of the county’s approach so far may point to a few bright spots in Tysons as evidence of the county’s success in meeting these goals. If, for example, in my heart-clenching journey described above I had exited on the other side of the Greensboro Metro station, I would have enjoyed a stress-free 10 minute walk to The Boro, a still developing mixed-use community with a high level of walkability.

Others will argue that after 34 years having just a few unconnected pockets where it’s relatively easy to get around without a car is not terribly impressive.

Whether or not and to what degree the county has thus far succeeded or failed in transforming Tysons is hard to say. The county does seem to have created some genuinely walkable, transit rich areas in Tysons that, for whatever reason, almost all residents and visitors choose to travel to and from by car. At the same time, Tysons has numerous areas, typically residential areas, where the state of walkability is so out of line with its stated walkability goals that it’s almost laughable. At the end of the day there is the simple fact that the county is competing against Americans’ obsession with getting everywhere in their car, to the detriment of society, the environment, and not least of all their own personal health.

How Tysons can meet its walkability goals

Questions about the efficacy of county approaches aside, I’ve often thought about what could be done to improve walkability in Tysons beyond what the county is already doing. As it happens, the county is updating its Comprehensive Plan, which dates to 1990. This process, dubbed “Plan Forward,” could be an opportunity to introduce new policies that promote safer streets.

Below are two suggestions that could help move the county closer to its stated goals.

Discourage auto-oriented businesses next to Metro stations

Sidewalks are the bare minimum accommodation that can be offered to the non-driver. While there are still some missing sidewalks, recent improvements have brought them to most of the 24-square-mile area that makes up Tysons.

However, these sidewalks don’t feel very nice to use. They are broken up by entrances and exits to drive-thrus, car washes, gas stations, and auto dealerships. With drivers streaming in and out, often only looking in the direction of oncoming traffic, the non-driver has to constantly be on alert and needs to carefully manage and read the situation. Every one of these entrances and exits is an emotional burden and a safety hazard for the non-driver, who in turn receives no benefits from these auto-oriented businesses.

What if the county discouraged businesses near Metro stations which exclusively cater to drivers? The county could do this by creating a tax system based on land-use, taxing businesses which harm the county’s walkability goals at a higher rate to more accurately reflect the burden they are placing on the surrounding area. This could also be applied to the handful of vacant lots which sit adjacent to the area’s Metro stations.

In their place, other businesses would spring up, ones which, because of the new tax system, would be more likely to offer something for a non-driver to enjoy, and, potentially, the opportunity to redesign the parcels altogether to reduce or eliminate conflicts between drivers and non-drivers. In the case of auto dealerships, some of which sit on the doorstep of Metro stations, massive lots would all of a sudden open to new developers who may well put in things like housing.

Ban right turns on red next to Metro stations

In 1975, during the oil crisis, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act which mandated that states must allow drivers to make right turns after stopping at red lights in order for the state to receive federal funding for energy efficiency projects. That same year, Virginia adopted the policy statewide.

To this day, the freedom to make a right on red, while offering a questionable amount of gas savings and a small time savings for drivers, causes issues for non-drivers. The most obvious is that drivers attempting to turn right on red have to look in the direction of oncoming traffic, which might be in the opposite direction the non-driver is traveling. This can and does lead to crashes and fatalities.

After DC banned right turns on red at 100 intersections, the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) found that the ”restriction resulted in safer intersections with reduced conflict.” In part due to DDOT’s findings, beginning January 1, 2025, right turns on red will be banned at all DC intersections.

Fairfax County doesn’t need to ban right turns on red everywhere, but in the vicinity of Metro stations, where pedestrian activity is most desired, this would make a lot of sense. Even if it doesn’t reduce fatalities, it just makes each intersection a little easier for the non-driver who no longer has to worry as long as they have the walk signal.

Help advocate for walkability

These two seemingly simple suggestions may or may not be feasible, but advocating for them will hopefully at least keep the pressure on to achieve the county’s goals for Tysons.

A full schedule of Plan Forward is available here. If you are unable to attend a meeting, feel free to contact your Supervisor via email. You can find out who your Supervisor is using this tool.