2050 Eastern Gateway Concept Plan - City of Falls Church

With the additional office space added, the Falls Church
Eastern Gateway will become a new job center. It will be
important that workers be able to move about during lunch, and
even spend time shopping and dining after work, without
having to get in their cars. Many workers may be using public
transportation that goes hand-in-hand with pedestrian design. If
the area is designed to be safe, convenient, and pleasant for
the pedestrian, then they will be more likely to utilize public
transportation.
Several overall recommendations were developed for the Falls
Church Eastern Gateway, with specific recommendations for
Roosevelt Boulevard, Wilson Boulevard, and Route 7/Broad
Street as well. All sidewalks should be at a comfortable
pedestrian width, at least 6-20 feet or more on streets with
outdoor dining or
high-density
commercial uses.
Sidewalks should
include some sort of
pedestrian buffer
from vehicular traffic.
Buffers can include
landscaping, storm
water management
structures, on-street
parking, street trees,
Landscaped medians work to slow traffic down, making the
street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Source: Project for
Public Spaces.
etc. These sidewalks
and any crossings
should take into the
needs of persons with disabilities into consideration and meet
Americans with Disabilities Act Standards. The streetscape plays
an important role in providing a comfortable pedestrian
environment, and should be taken into consideration on all
roads and pedestrian corridors. Aesthetic improvements can
include the presence of landscaping, art, fine detail
architecture, and lighting. Lighting also plays a role in
pedestrian safety and should be included along all pedestrian
corridors. The lighting should follow Falls Church guidelines and
add to the aesthetics, not retract from it. 1
A specific recommendation for Roosevelt Boulevard is to
implement traffic calming by narrowing the street to one lane
on either side of the median. On-street parking could be added
to the north-bound side of Roosevelt, with a bike route going
both ways on the south-bound side of Roosevelt. The bike route
would be buffered from the road with a planted median.
Narrowing Roosevelt to two lanes would also provide
opportunity to implement bus rapid transit, which works best
with a dedicated lane, in the future. Wilson Boulevard is
currently very unsafe to pedestrians. A recommended
improvement is to implement traffic calming by adding a
broken up, planted median in places where no turn lane is
necessary. Wilson Boulevard is also a candidate for major
aesthetic improvement to enhance pedestrian comfort. This could
be done by under-grounding power lines, planting street trees,
adding a planted median, and adding art, fine detail
architecture, and lighting as previously mentioned.