The City of Alexandria could finally be making safety improvements to the West End’s infamous Sanger Avenue.
At a meeting of the Traffic and Parking Board last night (Monday), the Board unanimously backed a series of changes aimed at improving safety on Sanger Avenue between North Beauregard Street and Van Dorn Street.
This stretch of Sanger Avenue has long been identifies as a trouble spot for the city. The road passed through a high-density residential area with access to William Ramsey Elementary School, the Mark Center and other locations, but is also a major ‘collector‘ road.
The staff report noted that the street has “the highest number of parking citations in the City.” Parking is not delineated, so cars commonly park too close to intersections or impact sight lines, and parking is limited to off-peak hours.
More importantly, however, Sanger Avenue has been the scene of 69 crashes since 2016. Of those, the report said 26 resulted in injury.
“Seven pedestrians have been injured,” staff said in a presentation to the Traffic and Parking Board. “Six were children.”
The statistic produced an audible gasp from members of the Traffic and Parking Board. Staff said there is only one marked crossing on that stretch of road. Five of the incidents where drivers struck children occurred outside of marked crossings, “signaling there’s a want and need for other places to cross,” staff said.
While the project only includes data on crashes along Sanger Avenue, staff also noted that in 2022 a 16-year-old was struck and killed at the intersection with North Beauregard Street.
The plan is to take two of the curbside lanes that are off-peak parking lanes and make them fully dedicated street parking. Near residential intersections the city would create curb extensions that help narrow the crossing distance for pedestrians and improve line of sight.
The report said the change is unlikely to significantly impact congestion on the street. While the project received support from Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), the Alexandria Police Department, the Fire Department, the Brookville-Seminary Valley Civic Association, DASH and WMATA, the report noted a letter from safety advocacy group Alexandria Families for Safe Streets said the project didn’t go far enough — urging the addition of off-street cycling facilities and transit lanes along Sanger Avenue.
“I appreciate that this is finally getting some movement,” one of the Traffic and Parking Board members said. “It has taken frankly a shocking amount of time to get some attention to this dangerous intersection.”
The proposal received a unanimous vote of approval from the Traffic and Parking Board. Implementation of the changes is scheduled to take place this summer.
