City Starts to Eye New Roads for Complete Streets Transformation

Even while the debate still rages on over the Seminary Road diet, the City of Alexandria is looking at other locations that could be altered to be more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly.

Several streets are scheduled for repaving, which the city uses as an opportunity to look at which ones could benefit the most from being redesigned with safety in mind, to align with the city’s Vision Zero plan — though some have questioned whether the redesigns make the streets safer.

According to a press release:

In 2011, City Council adopted the Complete Streets Policy. This policy required that street improvements be made for all roadway users as part of regular maintenance whenever possible. When streets are repaved, this provides an opportunity to upgrade parts of the street to better serve people of all ages and abilities by improving safety, access, and mobility.

Currently, the City of Alexandria is looking for community input on whether the following streets should be converted to “Complete Streets.”

• Alfred Street (First Street to Church Street)
• Cameron Mills Road (Virginia Avenue to Allison Street)
• Morgan Street (North Chambliss Street to cul-de-sac)
• Rayburn Avenue (North Beauregard Street to Reading Avenue)
• Reading Avenue (Rayburn Avenue to North Beauregard Street)
• West Street (Duke Street to Wythe Street)

The public feedback form for Complete Streets is available online until Friday, Feb. 7.

While individual changes would depend on the street being repaved, the City of Alexandria said changes could include:

• Add or upgrade curb ramps
• Add or upgrade pedestrian crosswalks
• Roadway signage
• Bicycle facilities, such as bike lanes or shared-lane markings
• Speed cushions or other traffic calming devices
• Changes to parking
• Additional pedestrian crossing treatments
• Minor signal timing changes
• Lane striping modifications (i.e. striping a parking lane or narrowing travel lanes)

The city has a list of finished Complete Streets projects, but the list hasn’t been updated since 2017 and does not include, for instance, the completed King Street project that narrowed the street and installed new bicycle lanes.

Staff photo by Jay Westcott