Traffic fatalities.
Last year Fairfax Country reported a total of 17 pedestrian fatalities, up from 10 in 2005, reports Nicole Theberge with the Falls Church News-Press.
Reasons for the spike are not entirely known, according to Fairfax County Pedestrian Program Manager Chris Wells, but suspicions focus mainly on increasing numbers of immigrants without personal automobiles who are dependent on public transportation and walking as their main modes of transportation. …
A 2005 study by Inova Health Systems found that a disproportionate number of victims of pedestrian related accidents and fatalities were of Hispanic ethnicity, immigrants and often poor. These inhabitants tend to live centered around commercial developments for convenience sake, but the probability of a harmful or fatal incident is much higher in some of these areas, like the Route 50 and Patrick Henry Drive intersection.
Fairfax county has approved a 10-year, $60 million pedestrian improvement plan that includes sidewalk improvements, pedestrian bridges, bus stop upgrades, additional signage and lighting at crosswalks and public education on the subject of pedestrian safety. The improvements will be far more expensive than if a pedestrian-orientation had been built into the design of affected Fairfax communities from the beginning. A pedestrian bridge across Rt. 50 (Arlington Boulevard) will cost $5 million.
The National Capital Region plans to spend $530 million for sidewalks, bike lanes and handicapped accessibility.
