The Transportation Planning Board (TPB) has approved more than $7 million in funding for eight Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA Set-Aside) Program projects in Northern Virginia. Each project will make a neighborhood more walkable, sustainable, and equitable, creating options for people to get to school, work, and services without a car. Many will bridge gaps in the sidewalk network, giving pedestrians access to places they cannot reach safely now.
Almost all of the recently approved projects will make the constantly growing National Capital Trail Network (NCTN) more useful. Whether extending the NCTN or making trail entrances more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists, TA Set-Aside creates opportunities for both recreation and transit. In addition, the projects support COG's planning priorities outlined in the Metropolitan Washington Planning Framework. Some of the projects will serve Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs), which are historically underserved geographic areas COG has prioritized for improved mobility options to combat the effects of structural inequality. Many are also located in Activity Centers (ACs) where projects can have the greatest impact for the most people possible.
ABOUT THE TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES SET-ASIDE PROGRAM
Under the federal TA Set-Aside Program, the TPB is responsible for selecting projects using sub-allocated U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, funding for the District of Columbia, State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The TA Set-Aside is part of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program and was previously known as the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).
The program was established by federal law to fund a variety of smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, trails, safe routes to school (SRTS) projects, community improvements, and environmental mitigation.
The program provides sub-allocated funding for large metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) like the TPB to fund local projects. In addition to these sub-allocated funds, a portion of the TA Set-Aside funding is reserved for statewide project selection, which is conducted by the state departments of transportation.
At the direction of the TPB, our region’s TA Set-Aside Program is framed as a complementary component of the TPB’s Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program, which provides technical assistance funding for small planning studies to TPB member jurisdictions.
The TA Set-Aside offers the region the ability to fund projects that support regional priorities and goals based on Visualize 2045 and the TPB’s other policy documents. Applicants from the National Capital Region are asked to show how their projects will serve these priorities when they seek TA Set-Aside funds. The priorities also provide the basis for the selection criteria that the TPB’s selection panel uses when it reviews applications and recommends projects for funding.
Funded projects include:
Vienna Metro Bike and Pedestrian Improvements, Fairfax County
This project will construct bicycle and pedestrian improvements from Blake Lane to the Vienna Metro I-66 westbound ramp. Improvements include a shared-use path along the south side of Sutton Road and a two-way cycle track and sidewalk along the south side of Country Creek Road and Virginia Center Boulevard. The project will complete a section of the National Capital Trail Network. It is in the heart of a regional Activity Center and in an Equity Emphasis Area. It will make it easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists to get to the Metro station from the west, especially those coming from the nearby Oakton High School.
Sterling Boulevard Sidewalk: Shaw Road to W&OD Trail, Loudoun County
This project will design and construct missing sidewalk links along Sterling Boulevard, connecting directly with the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, a key part of the NCTN. These improvements will make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists traveling to or from the W&OD trail along a busy road. The project is in a regional Activity Center and in an Equity Emphasis Area.
Shrevewood Elementary School Safe Routes to School, Fairfax County
Three new crosswalks will be added by this project, along with sidewalk or shared use path connections across busy streets serving Shrevewood Elementary School. In addition to making it safer to walk or bike to school, this project will expand safe access for kids to the W&OD Trail. The project sits on the edge of an Equity Emphasis Area.
Plaza Street Sidewalk, Town of Leesburg
This project will finish the construction of a missing stretch of sidewalk along the west side of Plaza Street between the Leesburg Police Station and Edwards Ferry Road. It will complete a link in the town’s sidewalk system and provide pedestrian linkages to residential communities and shopping, restaurant, and employment centers in downtown Leesburg. The addition of this sidewalk will make it so children in the apartments in this Equity Emphasis Area can be safely picked up and dropped off from school.
University Drive Bicycle Facilities, City of Fairfax
This project will add bicycle lanes and intersection improvements on University Drive between South Street and Layton Hall Drive in downtown Fairfax. It will serve the recently adopted Small Area Plan for Old Town Fairfax which recommends the implementation of a road diet on University Drive to create a multimodal spine through the city. It will use a mix of “super sharrows” and on-road bicycle lanes within the project limits to improve comfort and safety for people biking and walking on University Drive. The city has already implemented a road diet, which narrowed the street width to slow down traffic, between South Street and Armstrong Street. This project will also implement a new traffic signal and remove a right-turn slip lane to the intersection of Layton Hall Drive and University Drive.
Old Carolina Road Sidewalk Improvements, Prince William County
Completing a pedestrian connection over I-66, this project will add a missing sidewalk on Old Carolina Road just north of the highway. The sidewalk will provide pedestrian access to a hospital and a new park and ride lot, which are north of the project. To the south, across I-66, is the old Haymarket main street and an area that is about to gain a new commercial complex. An existing section of the National Capital Trail Network is less than a quarter mile from the project location.
Token Forest Drive Sidewalk, Prince William County
Improving a stretch of the road that is unfriendly to pedestrians, a new sidewalk on Token Forest Drive will make it easier for residents of the Forest Glen Estates housing community to access a church, grocery store, medical clinic, and the Hoadly Marketplace commercial development. The sidewalk will be constructed on the south side of Token Forest Drive from the entrance of a church to an existing sidewalk which abruptly ends.
Streetscape Phase 2a, Town of Clifton
Through this project, new sidewalks, crosswalks, signage, landscaping, and lighting will be constructed along Main Street in historic Clifton through this project. With a variety of small businesses and striking points of interest, the street is already a key gathering place for the residents and visitors alike. This project will help Clifton reach its full potential by creating infrastructure designed to slow traffic and make the walking environment safer for pedestrians. In addition, this project will improve pedestrian safety and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility along Clifton Historic District’s Main Street.
In developing recommendations for funding, TPB staff worked closely with Mary Hynes, who is the Northern Virginia district member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB). Each CTB district member is responsible for allocating approximately $2 million in TA Set-Aside funding. The TPB jointly funded two of the projects listed above – those at Sterling Boulevard and in Clifton – with Hynes. In addition, Hynes fully funded two projects -- the Freeman Store Bridge in Vienna and East Broad Way Streetscape Improvements in Lovettsville.
This TPB News post was authored by Joseph Limber, TLC Planning Intern.
MORE: TPB approves local Virginia bicycle and pedestrian projects for $7.2M in federal funding