transportation planning | ALXnow

City Threatens to Go ‘Back to Market’ Over Southern Access at Potomac Yard Metro

Published February 26, 2020 at 11:45AM | Updated February 26, 2020 at 12:05PM

After months of stalled discussions over the cost of adding southern access to the Potomac Yard Metro station, Mayor Justin Wilson said the city could start the process of financing it over again.

The Potomac Yard Metrorail Implementation Work Group “expressed a great amount of frustration at the amount of time we have spent working with WMATA and their contractor to come to an agreement on a potential change order for improved southwest access,” Wilson said at the City Council meeting last night (Tuesday). “The message that was crystal clear from PYMIG was to set a date to have pencils down regardless of where we’re at and pursue going back to market to bid out the improved southwest access.”

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Traffic Calming Changes Planned for Monticello Boulevard

By James Cullum

Published February 25, 2020 at 10:30AM

A section of Monticello Blvd., future home of speed tables (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A number of traffic calming changes will eventually be coming to Monticello Blvd in the Alexandria’s North Ridge neighborhood.

The city is in the final stages of design on the project, which will bring changes to the roadway near George Mason Elementary School. The project will potentially include speed cushions and a speed monitoring sign.

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Eisenhower Partnership Fights for Increased Bus Frequency

By Vernon Miles

Published February 24, 2020 at 4:30PM | Updated February 24, 2020 at 4:47PM

A DASH bus on King Street in Old Town Alexandria

The Eisenhower Partnership is making a last-minute push to try to salvage a 15-minute bus service plan for Eisenhower Avenue ahead of tomorrow’s City Council meeting.

Currently buses cycle along Eisenhower Avenue every 30 minutes, as they do in much of the rest of the city. A new plan would increase the frequency of service in densely populated corridors, while cutting down or eliminating service to some less-densely populated residential areas.

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City Could Ban Trucks from Residential Road in Taylor Run

By Vernon Miles

Published February 19, 2020 at 10:30AM

As part of an effort to curtail truck traffic through residential streets, the City Council could add E. Taylor Run Parkway to the list of streets where truck traffic is banned.

On Saturday (Feb. 22) the City Council is scheduled (item #13) to review a potential ban on commercial truck traffic on the street, which connects Janneys Lane and Duke Street.

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Meeting Planned to Discuss Design of Revamped West Glebe Road Bridge

By ALXnow.com

Published February 5, 2020 at 9:15AM

West Glebe Road Bridge (photo via Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services)

The deteriorating West Glebe Road Bridge, on the Arlington border near I-395, will be the topic of an open house next week.

The bridge is currently closed to large vehicles weighing more than 5 tons due to structural deficiencies. It’s set for a major rehabilitation project, likely starting later this year.

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Public Meeting Planned to Discuss ‘Complete Streets’ Changes on King Street

By Vernon Miles

Published February 4, 2020 at 2:20PM | Updated February 4, 2020 at 2:38PM

The Rosemont community is planning to meet on Thursday to discuss complete streets and traffic issues in the neighborhood.

The meeting is scheduled to include a discussion of the city’s plans for pedestrian safety and congestion problems at some busy local intersections. It’s scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Commonwealth Baptist Church (700 Commonwealth Avenue).

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Getting to Vision Zero: City Waits for Answers on Recent Pedestrian Death on Duke Street

By James Cullum

Published January 30, 2020 at 4:45PM | Updated January 30, 2020 at 5:14PM

A pedestrian tries to cross Duke St. at N. Jordan St. (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

On Thursday morning, William Tate waited for the pedestrian signal before crossing at the intersection of Duke and S. Pickett Street. Traffic wasn’t too heavy, but Tate still waited for a few minutes and sipped his coffee until the light told him it was safe.

“The biggest problem I see on Duke Street is that people just cut across on foot wearing dark clothing, and they get clipped,” Tate told ALXnow. “Sometimes I’ll see people just running across where there aren’t crosswalks and drivers don’t pay attention. You’ve got to pay attention.”

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Transportation Commission Endorses Bus Overhaul, But Worries Reforms Lack Teeth

By Vernon Miles

Published January 23, 2020 at 4:45PM

Metrobus in Old Town Alexandria near King Street metro (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

While Alexandria’s Transportation Commission endorsed a WMATA-backed plan to overhaul the region’s bus system, that approval was accompanied by concerns that the project won’t be able to achieve its lofty goals.

On paper, the plan put forward by the Washington Area Bus Transformation Project sounds ideal to any bus rider. The plan pushes for faster, more frequent, more reliable bus service that is also more affordable.

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City Starts to Eye New Roads for Complete Streets Transformation

By Vernon Miles

Published January 22, 2020 at 11:35AM

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.

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Eisenhower Roadway Improvements Face $2 Million Budget Gap

By Vernon Miles

Published January 21, 2020 at 10:35AM

Improvements planned for the east end of Eisenhower Avenue have come back significantly over budget and city staff are working to find a new funding source.

The Eisenhower Avenue Roadway Improvement Project would add a left turn lane onto westbound Eisenhower Avenue at Mill Road — a site of frequent congestion as Mill Road leads up to the Beltway — and Mill Road would be widened. At the other end of the improvements, the traffic circle at the end of Eisenhower Avenue to the east would be replaced with a T intersection.

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City Mulls Making Proposed Pedestrian-Only King Street Permanent

By Vernon Miles

Published January 17, 2020 at 10:35AM

Alexandria officials are still working through the details, but there’s an unmistakable air of excitement from city staff and leadership when it comes to turning part of King Street into a pedestrian-only zone.

The proposal would close one block of King Street — between Lee Street and Union Street — to car traffic on weekends and turn it into a pedestrian-only zone.