Arlington resident uses fake bricks to call for safer crosswalks

ARLINGTON, Va. - A mystery neighbor in Arlington County is going to great lengths to get the county and drivers' attention to pedestrian safety.

The tactic: A display with foam bricks, encouraging pedestrians to take them as a warning to drivers to slow down and pay attention.

This is near South Carlin Springs Road in Arlington County. 

A note off the top: The Arlington County government, the man who put this display, and a group in Canada who started this do not want people walking around with bricks, even fake ones like the one posted on a crosswalk sign at the intersection of South 5th Street.

This is best thought of as provocative art of sorts meant to spark a conversation about safety.

The neighbor posted the sign last Wednesday. There are foam bricks and a sign that says "Be Seen, Grab a brick, Look, Wave, Cross."

The bricks were wired to the basket and could not be taken out.            

The logo on this sign looks similar to Vision Zero, the road safety initiative, but says Action Zero, which isn’t a real county entity.

The county removed this last Thursday because they say it’s unauthorized signage in the right of way that could distract drivers and pose a risk for roadway users.

The inspiration for this came from a group that did this as an April Fools-centric exercise in Vancouver, Canada; a tongue-in-cheek way to raise awareness for road safety.

FOX 5 spoke with Lucy Maloney who spearheads Vision Zero efforts in Vancouver, which went viral earlier this year.

"Look, it can be perceived as being a little bit controversial and confrontational, but we’ve found that it’s a really effective way of prompting this very important conversation that we need to have about the number of people dying on our roads," Maloney said.

FOX 5 spoke to the guy who put the fake bricks up in Arlington.              

He says he did it because of longstanding concerns about safety on South Carlin Springs Road.              

He wanted to remain anonymous but says the sidewalks are too close to the road and more needs to be done to make the road safe since there are kids and families nearby.

"As a parent, we’re all terrified to walk on this road with our kids, and there are 3 schools right here, 2 elementary schools and one middle school. There’s been a decade of advocacy trying to get some level of safety brought to this road, and the county’s been slow to act," he said.

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FOX 5 also spoke with Elizabeth Treble, a neighbor with two kids who go to one of the three schools in the area.

"It’s simply not safe. I clutch my 5 and 7-year-old’s hands every day on the way to school just waiting for my 5-year-old to see something shiny and accidentally leap into traffic, or worse yet, a car jumping the curb like you can see behind us has happened multiple times at this intersection," Treble said.

Arlington County told FOX 5 today this area is a priority.  They have a whole project page on their website dedicated to letting the public know about all the changes they’ve made in the last few years and plan to make in coming years.

In the last few years, they’ve added speed cameras, better signage, are planning a study for 2026, and have an open house next week to hear from neighbors.

The county does acknowledge that there are a few challenges in this area, which has a four-lane road and narrow sidewalks. They say the existing utilities and current property lines make widening the area a challenge.

Arlington County’s Vision Zero efforts are among the most successful in the DMV. Thus far in 2024, they’ve had zero vehicle fatalities, zero pedestrian fatalities and one motorcycle fatality that occurred on Interstate 395, not a county road.

A county official tells Fox 5 their work is never over, though.