After the much awaited completion of the three Phase 1 high rise buildings, and the very popular plaza that connects them, we haven’t seen much new construction at Tysons Corner Center. Macerich, the management company that owns the mall, has made statements about their plans for the future residential tower near the LL Bean entry of the mall, but it doesn’t look like that will start this year.
However, there has been a smaller scale construction project that has progressed for the past 3 years. Part of the rezoning plan for the Tysons Corner Center, that was approved prior to the new comprehensive plan for Tysons, was the creation of a circulator trail around the massive 68 acre property. This new trail would not only serve pedestrians and cyclists headed to the mall, but also a vital infrastructure benefit to Tysons as a whole.
The trail runs the entire frontage of the mall property along Route 123, International Drive, and Route 7 connecting to the trail that was created along Route 7 crossing the 495 off-ramps. It also creates a quick cross-link between Route 7 and North Tysons via the backside of the property along Shop Tysons Boulevard. This serves as a direct connection between Route 7 and Route 123 as well as across the Westpark Bridge.
One gap in the new trail is however the lack of connectivity across the Old Gallows Bridge and to bike lanes connecting to Gallows and the W&OD Trail. The problem being the lack of space to construct bike facilities along Old Gallows Bridge. The best one can hope for, atleast for the foreseeable future, is a sharrows bike striping on the bridge. At some point VDOT will want to replace the bridge but that may be decades in the future.
The trail around Tysons Corner Center is nearly complete with the final links along International Drive and connection to the bus bays along Route 123. New streetscaping will also follow along with the construction helping to soften the large road sections that surround the property and provide shade for non-vehicle drivers.
