The City of Fairfax isn’t a place that usually comes to mind when discussing cycletracks. But Fairfax does have one, and it’s bizarre. It runs 270 feet along the back side of a strip mall parking lot.

Fairfax’s cycletrack, behind the parked cars. Photo by Google.

The cycletrack is part of Fairfax’s Mason to Metro Trail, an assemblage of sharrows, sidewalks, and dedicated bikeways that runs from George Mason University to Vienna Metro station.

The cycletrack portion is just north of Fairfax Main Street. It curves around the back side of the Main Street Marketplace strip mall, using a cycletrack through the parking lot and a simpler buffered bike lane through the loading dock.

It’s no 15th Street, but it’s something.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.