Civic-minded Alexandria residents who want to help lead their city have an opportunity to serve on a board or commission, and the deadline to apply is approaching soon.
Applicants must be city residents, and otherwise a special waiver will need to be approved by City Council. Committee assignments can last between two and five years, and residents can only apply for one committee at a time. The online application deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, and the following openings are available:
Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and city staff are asking that the Virginia Department of Transportation delay approval of a preferred alternative on a plan to add express lanes from the Springfield Interchange across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
In an April letter to VDOT, Gaskins wrote that the project will bring “Alexandria substantial consequences” to our local neighborhoods, and asked that an alternative not be chosen until a noise, traffic, and air safety analysis is conducted. VDOT and the Commonwealth Transportation Board, in the meantime, have set a timeline for the project.
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) has a series of capital projects in the region on the horizon could benefit rail service in the area but have some additional impacts for Alexandria specifically.
In a memo (page 9) from Hillary Orr to the Transportation Commission ahead of a meeting yesterday, Orr said the VPRA is working on installing a fourth track along the rail corridor between Witter Field in Alexandria and the Arlington Aquatic Center.
Alexandria is hoping for more authority to regulate the use of autonomous vehicles on city streets.
At a meeting last week, the Transportation Commission discussed legislative priorities for the upcoming year. These are topics that the Transportation Commission is hoping the City’s representatives will push for during the legislative session. One of the big transportation topics on the horizon, the Commission said, is regulation of autonomous vehicles.
More electric vehicle infrastructure could be coming to the city, particularly at public parks and libraries.
Alexandria is applying for a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) grant to deploy more electric vehicle charging stations and alternative fuel infrastructure.
Sanger Avenue, a West End road that runs from William Ramsay Elementary School to I-395, could be getting some safety and cycling upgrades.
A memo (page 12) from Department of Transportation Deputy Director Hillary Orr to the Transportation Commission included a note that the street could receive some improvements as part of an upcoming paving project.
Currently, in Alexandria, drivers have to yield to pedestrians, but a new state-level change has given Alexandria the authority to tell drivers to stop.
According to a memo from Hillary Orr, deputy director of Transportation and Environmental Services, a change to City Code requiring drivers to stop for pedestrians crossing the street is heading to City Council in December.
A report on Alexandria’s Complete Streets program highlighted work done over the last year and a peek ahead at new bike lanes, sidewalks, trail improvements and more.
The Complete Streets presentation (starting with slide 36) is headed to the Transportation Commission on Wednesday, Oct. 18, alongside a report on the city’s Vision Zero project and Safe Routes to Schools.
While the plan is to eventually create a new transit hub in the Landmark Mall redevelopment, the city is looking for grant funding to make the key transfer point more bearable in the near term.
The Transportation Commission is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to endorse a grant application to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation for up to $544,000.
Alexandria is hoping a federal grant could help push Alexandria’s DASH bus network a little closer to full electrification.
A memo from Deputy Director of Transportation Hillary Orr to the Transportation Commission said the city is hoping federal funding can help cover a sizable budget gap looming for electric bus replacement plans.
One year into the city’s permanent dockless mobility program, data shows electric scooter ridership still hasn’t recovered to its pre-pandemic highs.
In a meeting of the Transportation Commission earlier this month, Sean Martin, shared mobility coordinator, told the Commission that electric scooter and bike ridership has crawled its way back from the lows of 2020 but is still around 65,000 riders shy of pre-pandemic levels.
