Spoke to a lot of folks in my office – having a bike and helmet next to the desk is a conversation starter in Tysons apparently. Many of them were open to bike commutes and know people who commute btw Alexandria, Arlington, DC, etc, but they were uniform in their response that Tysons is too dangerous. I happen to agree with that, which is why I rode in before 7:00 and will be riding home in my wife’s car.
I think this area is in true “if you build it, they will come” mode, if the bike lanes along Gallows were connected across the Towers Crescent bridge or another non-route 7 (which is reality Frogger) crossing, and there were bike lanes along Westpark or International that loops through most offices, then I think a lot more people would give it a go. Although it would still be dangerous in the evenings, especially in the dark, just due to sheer volume (and road rage) of Tysons commuters.
Would love to see the “Tysons of tomorrow” vision of more walk/bike friendly infrastructure come true, but from living in the heart of Tysons from 2000-2004, I don’t see it working out for a long time based on the current construction and culture of the area.
But it was indeed awesome to roll along the W&OD with a bunch of other people this morning. So many folks were out and early at that.
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