Virginia governor issues stay-at-home order

[rcannon100]

Having talked to lots of people in the last two hours, this is what I understand re bike shops

VA EO 55 says stay home, ref VA EO 53.
VA EO 53 #4 says who MUST close.
#5 says who MAY stay open.
#6 says, business if not listed #5, w <10 patrons + social distance may operate (aka bikes shops)

The specific language of #6 states

“Effective 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, 2020 until 11:59 p.m., Thursday, April
23, 2020, any brick and mortar retail business not listed in paragraph 5 may
continue to operate but must limit all in-person shopping to no more than 10
patrons per establishment. If any such business cannot adhere to the 10 patron
limit with proper social distancing requirements, it must close. “

[ginacico]

Guidance from NOVA Parks (i.e., the W&OD trail):

As per Governor Ralph Northam’s Stay at Home Order, issued today and effective immediately, do not drive to our parks. If you live close enough to walk or ride a bike you may access the trails, but there is no parking. Also please note, Governor Ralph Northam stated all Virginia residents only make essential trips which including seeking medical attention, work, care for family or household members, obtain goods and services like groceries, and prescriptions.

If you are seeking recreation and physical activity look for a park that is within walking or biking distance of your home. Please note: no picnicking, sports, boating or fishing are allowed at this time at NOVA Parks. You may walk on the trails only if you can get to them by foot or on bicycle.

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[dkel]

I suppose for normal people, this limits access to parks. For this crowd…not so much.

[zsionakides]

@ginacico 199802 wrote:

Guidance from NOVA Parks (i.e., the W&OD trail):

As per Governor Ralph Northam’s Stay at Home Order, issued today and effective immediately, do not drive to our parks. If you live close enough to walk or ride a bike you may access the trails, but there is no parking. Also please note, Governor Ralph Northam stated all Virginia residents only make essential trips which including seeking medical attention, work, care for family or household members, obtain goods and services like groceries, and prescriptions.

If you are seeking recreation and physical activity look for a park that is within walking or biking distance of your home. Please note: no picnicking, sports, boating or fishing are allowed at this time at NOVA Parks. You may walk on the trails only if you can get to them by foot or on bicycle.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21451[/ATTACH]

This direction is a bit odd as the governors order doesn’t ban going to parks, and fishing is explicitly called out as being allowed at beaches.

Considering some of the NOVA parks are hard to reach safely by bike (e.g. Pohick Bay and Bull Run), this is a de facto closure of those parks, which is unfortunate since they are large and easy to spread out in, vice say the W&OD when it’s crowded.

[LhasaCM]

@zsionakides 199809 wrote:

This direction is a bit odd as the governors order doesn’t ban going to parks, and fishing is explicitly called out as being allowed at beaches.

Considering some of the NOVA parks are hard to reach safely by bike (e.g. Pohick Bay and Bull Run), this is a de facto closure of those parks, which is unfortunate since they are large and easy to spread out in, vice say the W&OD when it’s crowded.

It’s a bit of a messaging mess. I don’t believe the “don’t drive here” really is a “new” restriction and because of the most recent order. Last week, already, NOVA Parks had closed all parking lots and entrance gates to vehicular access, and had previously closed its buildings/boat ramps/etc. https://www.novaparks.com/alert/updated-march-24-2020-nova-parks-open-to-trail-and-passive-use-only-click-for-more

[secstate]

I suppose a solo camping trip on the C&O violates both the letter and spirit of the DC and MD orders.

[n18]

Some parks have basketball courts, even soccer fields, so closing parking lots discourages large gathering. All parks indoor facilities have been previously closed one week+ ago. I know there are areas where that doesn’t make any sense.

Also, from VA stay-at-home executive order(PDF), there is an exception to “Engaging in outdoor activity, including exercise, provided individuals comply with social distancing requirements”, so it’s allowed. The purpose of closing parking lots is discouragement, not prohibition.

Sunday/Monday the W&OD in Vienna was busy with walkers and cyclists, almost to the same level in this time of the year.

[ImaCynic]

Here’s the perfect solution:

https://laughingsquid.com/neighbor-sneaks-out-of-house-dressed-like-bush/

[zsionakides]

@n18 199817 wrote:

Some parks have basketball courts, even soccer fields, so closing parking lots discourages large gathering. All parks indoor facilities have been previously closed one week+ ago. I know there are areas where that doesn’t make any sense.

Also, from VA stay-at-home executive order(PDF), there is an exception to “Engaging in outdoor activity, including exercise, provided individuals comply with social distancing requirements”, so it’s allowed. The purpose of closing parking lots is discouragement, not prohibition.

Sunday/Monday the W&OD in Vienna was busy with walkers and cyclists, almost to the same level in this time of the year.

The problem with closing some of the parks is it crowds the ones that stay open – e.g. everyone that can no longer hike on the Bull Run trail because they can’t use the parking lot are crowding other trails. It’s much better to discourage the dangerous behaviors such as soccer and basketball matches or large picnics, vice closing the parks wholesale. In places that are highly desirable such as the Tidal Basin, shutting down parking lots makes sense to limit the crowds, but most all NOVA Parks aren’t anywhere near that busy.

[mstone]

@n18 199817 wrote:

Sunday/Monday the W&OD in Vienna was busy with walkers and cyclists, almost to the same level in this time of the year.

I peeked my head out on the W&OD a week or two ago and just decided “nope” given how crowded it was.

[mstone]

@zsionakides 199819 wrote:

The problem with closing some of the parks is it crowds the ones that stay open – e.g. everyone that can no longer hike on the Bull Run trail because they can’t use the parking lot are crowding other trails. It’s much better to discourage the dangerous behaviors such as soccer and basketball matches or large picnics, vice closing the parks wholesale. In places that are highly desirable such as the Tidal Basin, shutting down parking lots makes sense to limit the crowds, but most all NOVA Parks aren’t anywhere near that busy.

What they really want is for people to just use parks that they can easily walk or bike to. If people are going somewhere that the need to drive and it’s going to a whole day trip, then you run into a bunch of other problems like the fact that there are no bathrooms, etc. Also, in practice, a lot of parks have had the problem that most of the park is empty but a couple of popular spots are tremendously overcrowded. Yeah, it’s been possible to just avoid the crowded parts, but a lot of clueless people are messing things up for everyone else.

[mstone]

@zsionakides 199819 wrote:

The problem with closing some of the parks is it crowds the ones that stay open – e.g. everyone that can no longer hike on the Bull Run trail because they can’t use the parking lot are crowding other trails. It’s much better to discourage the dangerous behaviors such as soccer and basketball matches or large picnics, vice closing the parks wholesale. In places that are highly desirable such as the Tidal Basin, shutting down parking lots makes sense to limit the crowds, but most all NOVA Parks aren’t anywhere near that busy.

In most of NOVA there are stream valley trails and neighborhood trails all over the place which are basically empty. Yeah, they’re not as exciting as the regional parks, but they’re a better option these days than driving across the region. And for those whose neighborhoods back up to Lake Fairfax or somesuch, they just luck out. Except that they’re still stuck with all the knuckleheads who can’t take a hint and are parking up and down the road because they can’t possibly go somewhere other than a regional park. (I saw this Sunday on 123, a good half mile of parking on the shoulder to access Burke Lake. )

[zsionakides]

@mstone 199822 wrote:

In most of NOVA there are stream valley trails and neighborhood trails all over the place which are basically empty. Yeah, they’re not as exciting as the regional parks, but they’re a better option these days than driving across the region. And for those whose neighborhoods back up to Lake Fairfax or somesuch, they just luck out. Except that they’re still stuck with all the knuckleheads who can’t take a hint and are parking up and down the road because they can’t possibly go somewhere other than a regional park. (I saw this Sunday on 123, a good half mile of parking on the shoulder to access Burke Lake. )

The problem is that large swaths of NOVA are not easily accessible to parks except by going on a major highway (e.g. 29, 123, 50, etc.). They have no choice but to drive to parks to go walking, biking, hiking, etc. Advising them to ride on those roads either involves riding on a sidewalk or a poorly maintained sidepath. I’d rather they just keep the parks open and break up any group gatherings.

[mstone]

@zsionakides 199825 wrote:

The problem is that large swaths of NOVA are not easily accessible to parks except by going on a major highway (e.g. 29, 123, 50, etc.). They have no choice but to drive to parks to go walking, biking, hiking, etc. Advising them to ride on those roads either involves riding on a sidewalk or a poorly maintained sidepath. I’d rather they just keep the parks open and break up any group gatherings.

Which swaths? IME it’s the very rare area which has no neighborhood walking or biking at all. It’s a pandemic, yeah, people might have to make some adjustments and settle for something less than they want or go in a boring loop instead of doing something epic.

[zsionakides]

@mstone 199827 wrote:

Which swaths? IME it’s the very rare area which has no neighborhood walking or biking at all. It’s a pandemic, yeah, people might have to make some adjustments and settle for something less than they want or go in a boring loop instead of doing something epic.

In Fairfax County much of Annandale, Springfield, and Mclean are largely un-bikeable and have limited areas to pleasantly walk outside their immediate neighborhood, unless you enjoy walking/biking on a 4ft sidewalk next to a high speed road. Prince William and Stafford County are almost entirely un-bikable and un-walkable. Reston, Herndon, Vienna, and parts of Loudoun County are manageable, but nowhere near as accessible as much of Arlington and Alexandria (City of)

[Author]

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