New bridge design serves pedestrians and cyclists better


Arlington County has chosen a design (pdf) for its upcoming rehabilitation of the Carlin Springs bridge over George Mason Drive.

The current bridge has five-foot sidewalks and no accommodation for cyclists.  The new bridge will have 8-foot sidewalks and 5-foot bike lanes on both sides.  The rest of Carlin Springs Drive does not currently have bike lanes, but it is important to plan for the future by including them now. Had the County not included better bike/ped accommodations, then those decisions would have been difficult to change for 30 or more years.



Carlin Springs Drive is currently not pedestrian friendly. There are no signalized crossings for 1.3 miles from its origination at the Ballston Mall all the way to the interchange at Route 50/Arlington Boulevard. I know of several families who live nearby who will not allow their Middle School age children to ride the bus, go to the Arlington Forest pool, or bike to the Bluemont Junction Trail unaccompanied because they cannot safely cross Carlin Springs Road. Hopefully this improvement will be the first of many steps to improve the overall design of Carlin Springs through North Arlington to better serve all users of the road.



For more information about this project, click here.

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