Residents Campaign For Safety Changes On Route 7 In Bailey's Crossroads

BAILEY’S CROSSROADS, VA — Residents of Bailey’s Crossroads held a rally Tuesday to call on Fairfax County to invest in sidewalks, crosswalks, better lighting and signage that will make the area safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Bailey’s Crossroads community is home to a large immigrant population where many residents rely on walking, biking and using the bus to get to work and their daily activities.

The main roads — Route 7 and Columbia Pike — and the entrances and exits to the many retail centers in the area are unsafe because of the lack of sidewalks, bus stops without crosswalks, and heavy high-speed traffic, according to residents.

CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, and the Coalition for Smarter Growth hosted the rally on Tuesday as well as a canvass kickoff as part of the Bailey’s Crossroads street safety campaign.

CASA member Viviana Valverde, a single mother who lives in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads, said at the rally that Route 7 is where residents get buses to go to their jobs, go shopping, do their laundry and eat at local restaurants.

“This part of town has become more dangerous due to the lack of street, pedestrian, and cyclist signage,” said Valverde, who clean houses for a living.

“The immigrant community that calls Culmore home has suffered great damage from the high-speed traffic and lack of visibility in the area,” she said. “I am especially concerned that there are still crashes that unfortunately claim so many lives.”

In December, a woman who was walking in the shoulder along Route 7 in the Bailey's Crossroads area — across the street from where the rally was held — was struck by a car and later died at the hospital. The area of Route 7 where the resident was walking lacked a sidewalk.

After the rally on Tuesday, CASA volunteers canvassed apartment buildings in the neighborhood, inviting residents to fill out a survey on the CASA website and provide feedback about their daily commute in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads.

“Many people living in the Culmore community of Bailey’s Crossroads walk, bike and take the bus to get around but are faced with high-speed traffic, missing sidewalks and a lack of safe crossing options that quickly turn deadly. Now is the time to provide safer streets in Culmore and save lives,” Sonya Breehey, Northern Virginia advocacy manager of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said at the rally.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation have identified Route 7 as a high-risk corridor for residents based on years of data showing the high numbers of fatalities and serious injuries. But no significant investments in safety improvements have been made to reduce the traffic fatalities and injuries to residents who walk and bike in the area, according to CASA and the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

A $50,000 grant from the Mobility Fund, a consortium of national foundations, is helping to fund the street safety campaign in the area.

Elsa Ixcoy, who has lived in the Culmore area for two years after immigrating to Northern Virginia from Guatemala, spoke at the rally, highlighting the many dangers facing local residents.

"I now call on the appropriate county authorities to take action on the problems that we face as a community as we have suffered fatal injuries from many car accidents in Culmore," said Ixcoy, who has a young son. "We need road signs, pedestrian crossings and vehicle speed reduction."

RELATED:

• Safer Bailey's Crossroads: Groups Campaign For Pedestrian Safety
• Pedestrian Fatally Struck By Car In Bailey's Crossroads: Police