Traffic might be a little slower around Lincolnia and Landmark this week due to lane closures on Duke Street.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) said in a release that there will be daytime closures on Duke Street between Oasis Drive and South Walker Street starting today (Tuesday) through Thursday.
Alexandria transportation officials say that a pilot program to ease evening congestion on and around Duke Street is working and they want to make the changes permanent.
City staff announced last night (Wednesday) that the first and second phases of the Duke Street Traffic Mitigation pilot have improved evening peak traffic and reduced cut-through traffic near the busy roadway. The project launched last summer with extended green traffic lights on Quaker Lane and Duke Street from 4 to 6 p.m., while green lights were shortened on West Taylor Run Parkway, Cambridge Road, Yale Drive and Fort Williams Parkway.
(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) An Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly carjacking a DASH bus in the West End last Thursday night.
Lorenzo Johnson, 33, was arrested after allegedly carjacking the bus near the intersection of Duke Street and Quaker Road. The incident occurred just before 10 p.m. No weapons were used and no one was injured in the incident, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
No injuries were reported or arrests made after multiple shots were fired in the 200 block of Yale Drive last night.
The Alexandria Police Department was dispatched to a residential area directly behind the Alexandria Commons Shopping Center at around 8:30 p.m. There were between six-to-eight shots reported by multiple callers, and police found shell casings and multiple vehicles struck.
Alexandria’s Duke Street transitway could have dedicated bus lanes, but it’s unlikely they’ll run the full length of the corridor.
At a presentation to the City Council on Monday, city staff offered a look at how plans for the Duke Street transitway plans are coming together.
As the city works through some of the most high-crash intersections, it’s setting its sights on twin troublesome intersections in southern Old Town: the intersections of Duke Street with Route 1 (South Henry and South Patrick streets).
The Duke Street intersections with Route 1 are among the most crash-prone in the city, with over 70 crashes at the intersection since 2014, the city said in a release. Of those, four resulted in severe injuries and more than 20 resulted in non-life-threatening injuries.
Alexandria Police are investigating a person of interest after Sunday night’s shooting near Holmes Run put a man in the hospital with multiple injuries.
The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. near an apartment complex in the 4600 block of Duke Street, according to police. A 22-year-old man was shot and suffered “multiple injuries” and is expected to recover.
(Updated 11:30 a.m.) As Alexandria sizes up Duke Street for dedicated bus lanes, a regional grant aimed at reducing congestion and improving air quality could be a vital piece of funding the transit line’s operation.
The bus lanes, part of a bus rapid transit (BRT) refit, is part of the Duke Street in Motion project, which aims to boost transit accessibility along Duke Street.
Alexandria is planning for a transit-oriented overhaul of Duke Street, and city staff connected to the project told an advisory group earlier this month that rumors about eminent domain being used for the project are inaccurate.
Yon Lambert, the director of the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services (T&ES), told the Duke Street in Motion Advisory Group that public concerns about eminent domain being invoked to acquire right of way for the Duke Street changes is at least premature if not unfounded.
The intersection of Duke Street and West Taylor Run Parkway has been a hot spot for car crashes and at a meeting tonight, city staff are scheduled to present plans to give the intersection a makeover.
The meeting, held at nearby Bishop Ireton High School (201 Cambridge Road) from 7-8:30 p.m. tonight (Tuesday) will include an overview of the current intersection and a look at potential design changes.
It’s been a busy week of meetings in Alexandria.
First, parents met with Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) leadership in a forum addressing safety in schools, a major talking point in schools after the murder of a student this summer and issues involving violent “crews” in ACPS.
