Move over Seminary Road, there’s a new “road diet” fight brewing.
S. Pickett Street is a four-lane roadway running between Duke Street and Edsall Road in the West End and — crucially for this story — runs adjacent to the Cameron Station neighborhood.
The Alexandria’s Traffic and Parking Board recently recommended that the Director of Transportation & Environmental Services implement a series of road diet changes for S. Pickett Street. One notable change would be removing one general purpose travel lane in each direction, making way for protected bicycle lanes, curb extensions, and other changes to the street.
According to the project website, the recommended changes include:
- Reduce one general purpose lane in each direction to slow vehicle speeds and create space for other important roadway features
- Add new median space to be used as a left-turn lane or a pedestrian refuge at various points along the corridor to simplify left turns, calm traffic, improve pedestrian safety, and provide opportunities for green space
- Preserve travel lanes at the approaches to Duke Street and Edsall Road to minimize vehicle delay
- Convert the through-left lane to a left-only lane on the eastbound approach of South Pickett Street and Edsall Road
- Add new crosswalks at key locations to improve access for people walking and wheeling
- Install protected bicycle lanes to provide a dedicated space for people biking and scooting and to calm traffic
- Install bus boarding islands to improve bus boarding and alighting and mitigate conflicts between people biking and people riding the bus
- Install painted curb extensions at key locations to reduce pedestrian crossing distance, improve sightlines, and reduce turning speeds.
- Reduce up to 10 on-street parking spaces at select locations to allow appropriate sight distance for a new crosswalk, provide a continuous bike lane through the intersection of South Pickett Street and Edsall Road, and better align the travel lanes
- Implement No Turn on Red restrictions at all signalized intersections to reduce conflicts between users and allow for Leading Pedestrian Intervals to be installed to enhance pedestrian safety
- Reduce the speed limit from 35 MPH to 25 MPH to improve safety for all roadway users
The S. Pickett Street changes were part of a broader swath of roadway alterations that aim to slow traffic on these streets and make them more friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists and transit.
The proposal, however, has sparked some concern in the Cameron Station community. A post on the Cameron Station Forum said an “emergency town hall” is being held tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. in the Cameron Station Clubhouse (200 Cameron Station Blvd).
The post for the meeting expresses concern that the changes to S. Pickett Street will push more traffic onto Cameron Station Blvd.
“This is an EXISTENTIAL THREAT to our precious Cameron Station neighborhood!” the post said. “Massive new cut-through traffic on Cameron Station Blvd is about to start! The City’s Traffic Board just approved a heavy ‘road diet’ on S. Pickett St. which will result in a huge increase of cut-through traffic on Cameron Station Blvd. Alexandria has a dangerous traffic plan for us.”
The forum also includes a link to a petition to bring the issue to City Council.
“City Council can vote to stop it altogether or send it back for revision,” the website said. “We want it to be revised so that it prevents not encourage cut-through traffic on CSB. Please, we need your help right now to force the road diet plan to be revised, to protect our neighborhood.”
