Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon is asking for City Council’s permission to apply for $35 million in state funding for two transportation projects approved in 2024.
City Council will consider Parajon’s proposal to apply for the Virginia Department of Transportation SMART SCALE funding at its meeting tonight (June 9). The funding requests include $27 million in mobility enhancements along King Street between Quaker Lane and Menokin Drive, and up to $8 million for pedestrian improvements on Mount Vernon Avenue at the intersections with Executive Avenue and Russell Road in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood. The city has a deadline of Aug. 1 to submit projects to VDOT for consideration.
This is the second time that City Council is asking for SMART SCALE funding for the King Street project. Council approved the project in 2024, but the city was not awarded the funding. The project would take the two-way access road parallel to King Street and the Bradlee Shopping Center and turn it into a one-way westbound street with a dedicated bus lane and a two-way bicycle trail.
“City staff, in coordination with VDOT, will develop more detailed cost estimates over the next several months,” according to a staff memo. “At this time, the City is requesting approval to apply for up to the maximum amounts noted for each project.”
The Arlandria project would extend curbs, remove street parking, add crosswalks along Mount Vernon Avenue, and add a pedestrian refuge island at the busy intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road.
“This project will improve safety benefits for pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders while minimizing impacts to traffic operations and parking,” the city said. “The project includes wider sidewalks, additional crosswalks, improved bus stops, shorter crossing distances and increased greenspace.”
Alexandria has more than $151 million in transportation improvements funded by SMART SCALE funding, including the South Patrick Street Median Improvement Project.
