The Traffic and Parking Board endorsed one intersection change that could make Lynhaven/Del Ray a little safer but did not approve the proposed reversal of a one-way street.

The proposed changes reviewed at the meeting earlier this week were:

• A roundabout at the Glebe Road/Montrose Avenue/Ashby Street intersection
• Reversal of Ashby Street, currently one-way west-to-east, to the reverse.

The roundabout would take the place of what’s currently a busy and confusing five-way intersection with significant visibility issues. Staff said while no pedestrian crashes have been reported at the intersection, it still poses a risk.

The plan is to replace the intersection with a roundabout featuring partial stop control, slower speeds, shorter crossings and improved sightlines.

The roundabout would require removing some on-street parking around the intersection and the purchase of right-of-way, but even with those complications, both speakers and the Traffic and Parking Board were unanimous in their support for the plan.

The more controversial change was the proposed reversal of Ashby Street.

Currently Ashby Street is one-way eastbound, but it could be changed to run one-way westbound.

Staff said the change would improve traffic safety and intersection operations, but the change was greeted with a mixed reception from neighbors. All of the public commentors spoke in favor of the roundabout change, but some on the street expressed uncertainty or opposition to the change.

Ultimately, the Traffic and Parking Board voted to separate the two proposed changes. The roundabout was recommended, but the Traffic and Parking Board did not recommend the one-way reversal.

A new pilot program to step up parking enforcement in Old Town netted 4,000 citations in its first month.

A staff memo (page 8) to the Traffic and Parking Board said that over half of the 4,000 parking citations issued through the pilot with contractor Reimagine Parking were for parking meter violations.

The program started on Dec. 27. It primarily focused on enforcement along King Street from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Firday.

According to the memo:

The parking enforcement pilot supplements the City’s existing parking enforcement officers and provides parking enforcement in Old Town, primarily along and around King Street. The contractors are authorized to issue citations only and do not handle issues of towing, vehicle relocation, or booting. The parking enforcement contractors wear identifiable reflective vests with parking enforcement written on them as can be seen in the photo below.

Alexandria’s Warwick Village neighborhood could be getting the city’s first mini-roundabout.

At the same meeting where they supported a proposal to make changes to the Mount Vernon Trail in Old Town North, the Traffic and Parking Board also backed the implementation of a “mini-roundabout” to be installed at the intersection of Kennedy and Hickory streets in Warwick Village.

The City of Alexandria received multiple requests for an all-way stop to be implemented at the site. Reports filed with the city indicated that the crosswalk is poorly marked and cars tend to “fly through” the intersection. City staff found “poor stop compliance” on Kennedy Street, leading to the recommendation of a mini-roundabout.

Staff noted in the meeting that this would be the first mini-roundabout recommended in Alexandria.

“Mini-roundabouts are great countermeasures due to their lower-cost and high-benefit to address multiple issues,” the report said.

The Traffic and Parking Board unanimously supported the recommendation to turn the intersection into a mini-roundabout. Like the changes to the Mount Vernon Trail, some on the Board expressed an interest in following the implementation of the change and seeing if it can be applied elsewhere in Alexandria.

The City of Alexandria could be prioritizing the Mount Vernon Trail at crossings where, currently, trail users are expected to stop for car traffic.

At a Traffic and Parking Board meeting last week, civil engineer Dan Scolese presented plans to change the stop signs from making pedestrians and cyclists stop for street traffic to having cars stop for trail users.

“The unusual nature is because it’s a trail and a street crossing, but the trail is considered a road,” Scolese said. “We gathered volumes during the fall. In all conditions, the trail was always more [used] than the crossing street. The split is usually more than 70%. On weekends there’s a vast difference in terms of volume on the trail.”

Scolese said trail usage at the intersections is usually pretty evenly balanced between pedestrians and cyclists.

The recommendation, supported unanimously by the Traffic and Parking Board, is to change the stop signs to face street traffic where the trail intersects at Canal Center Plaza, Montgomery Street and Madison Street, allowing trail users to continue through that part of Alexandria without stopping. The Traffic and Parking Board members did say, however, that city staff should reach out to nearby civic associations, who were not consulted ahead of the meeting.

Some on the Board said this could be the start of a broader look at how stopping is prioritized at other places where trails intersect with Alexandria streets, depending on how this goes.

“I’m curious to see how this works,” said Traffic and Parking Board chair James Lewis. “Not asking you guys for a report, but once stuff is in, if you don’t mind sharing how it’s working because this is the first time we’ve done something like this.”