A portion of Tysons Blvd in Tysons, VA by Elvert Barnes licensed under Creative Commons.

It may have been a road where thousands of cars and trucks traversed everyday, but by Friday evening, portions of Tysons Blvd will open to pedestrians and cyclists for recreation and exercise. This would make Tysons the first locality in Fairfax County to close off streets to cars and open them up for people.

Beginning at 5 pm on Friday, May 29, a half mile stretch of Tysons Blvd ( on one northbound lane) from Westbranch Drive to the pedestrian entrance of Lillian Court just before International Drive, will close off to cars, according to a press release from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT).

The open street is part of a pilot program funded by the county and led by FCDOT and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The Tysons Partnership and the Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) approached the agencies about helping residents find a place to safely social distance during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘We’re thrilled that Tysons is the site of this active street pilot,” said Ronit A. Dancis, Transportation Management Association Director for the Tysons Partnership. “Kudos to FCDOT & VDOT for their leadership in mobility and multimodal transportation.”

A map of the open street on Tysons Blvd. Image by FCDOT.

This stretch of the boulevard is expected to remain open to pedestrians through September 8, said Eric Teitelman, Chief, Capital Projects, and Traffic Engineering Division for FCDOT, during a panel discussion about the Silver Line on May 27.

“During these unprecedented times, innovative solutions are needed to support our residents today and to inform our planning efforts for the Fairfax County of tomorrow,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay, in the press release. “This project is a great example of how working with our community and government partners, we are able to quickly pivot and move the needle toward more flexible and innovative thinking to support our communities during even the most challenging of times.”

GGWash has reported on the possibility of opening streets in Tysons. As D. Taylor Reich pointed out in their article, while the trails are plentiful in Northern Virginia, they come with their own complications:

“The trails of Northern Virginia would be crowded any year at this season. The Tysons area has grown a lot since those trails were planned. And, with parks officially closed amid the stay at home order, the trails have become a go-to spot for physical activity and recreation.”

Alyson Bode, a Tysons resident, and mom, said she struggled to find safe places to exercise and practice social distancing.

“Since deciding to stay home more than a month ago I have been trying to get out every day to run or take walks with my son to get some fresh air,” Bode said. “I have definitely noticed that the sidewalks are very narrow in the time of COVID and it’s hard to socially distance, so I have frequently been using the bike lanes to run.”

Since the novel coronavirus took hold and shelter in place orders were enacted across the country, open streets have been a popular topic for discussion and debate. A growing legion of cities have enacted some form of open streets from Oakland to Seattle and Bogota.

Tysons would be first in Fairfax County to open a street for pedestrians and cyclists. While several national parks have closed off roads, there has not been a closed street in the area for people to use for recreation.

In early April, Montgomery Parks closed off sections of Sligo Creek Parkway to cars and opened them to pedestrians. Typically however, parkways tend to be less connected to other roads, and are not near homes or businesses. Getting streets opened where people live and work has been a harder lift in the region.

In DC, residents have rallied for some streets to open for people to walk and get exercise while practicing social distancing. Some people grew impatient from the lack of government support, and opened a grab of streets on their own. Meanwhile, three DC council members sent an open letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser asking for streets to open for pedestrians.

In April, Bowser widened some sidewalks near essential businesses to help people better practice social distancing.

It remains to be seen what larger infrastructure project may or may not emerge after the pilot program in Tysons. But for now, county officials are happy about the move.

“Tysons is one of Fairfax County’s fastest growing business and residential communities, and the perfect test site for this innovative solution that supports active transportation,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said in a press release. “This temporary reconfiguration of existing transportation infrastructure provides not only an opportunity for our residents to safely exercise, but also gives us information on how these types of flexible solutions may work in the future.”

The county will be on site to collect data for the duration of the project. If you want to let them know how the project is going, email them at bikefairfax@fairfaxcounty.gov

  • Tysons Partnership

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of Tysons underwritten by the Tysons Partnership and community partners. Greater Greater Washington maintains full editorial independence over its content.

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Tagged: fairfax, open streets, pedestrians, public spaces, roads, tysons, vdot, virginia

George Kevin Jordan was GGWash's Editor-in-Chief. He is a proud resident of Hillcrest in DC's Ward 7. He was born and raised in Milwaukee and has written for many publications, most recently the AFRO and about HIV/AIDS issues for TheBody.com.