Alexandria looking for state help to fix its dangerous T-intersections

When a pedestrian walk signal comes on at a T-intersection, the light for turning vehicles comes on at the same time: meaning every vehicle is turning into a crosswalk that has an active walk signal.

A memo from Adriana Castaneda, director of Transportation and Environmental Services, concurred with the broader planning community: T-intersections are uniquely dangerous. Now, the City of Alexandria wants to make enhancements across the city’s 80 T-intersections to make them safer.

A roll-call consent calendar item at the City Council meeting tonight (Tuesday) is an application to the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s FY 2025 Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program Systemic Safety Funding Program (VHSIP) to enhance safety and reduce crash severity at intersections.

“The City of Alexandria is focusing on the specific criteria that supports safety enhancements at its approximately eighty T-intersections,” Castaneda wrote in the memo. “T-intersections pose a unique threat to pedestrians crossing the street since all vehicles are turning through the crosswalk at the same time the pedestrian has a walk signal.”

Castaneda said she’s asking the city to apply for funding without requiring a local match.

“The VHSIP notified that localities may apply for funding for systemic treatments other than those that are pre-approved and those will be evaluated based on their benefit,” Castaneda wrote.

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