Bike lanes, one-way traffic and a dedicated bus lane could be coming to a stretch of the access road near the Bradlee Shopping Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
After months of data analysis, brainstorming and community engagement, Sara Brandt-Vorel, the city’s transportation capital project manager, shared the city’s recommendation during a Traffic & Parking Board meeting Monday.
Though the city initially considered three different approaches to part of the access road that runs along King Street between S. Taylor Street and Menokin Drive, Brandt-Vorel said the city is recommending moving forward with the proposal that calls for changing traffic from two-way to one-way and adding the dedicated bus lane.
ALX Now first reported the concepts the city has been considering.
The switch will help keep pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders safe, while also adding improvements such as making turns easier for drivers, said Brandt-Vorel.
For years, the city has identified the access road as an area that needs cyclist and pedestrian safety improvements. On Monday night, the Traffic and Parking Board voted to take the city’s preferred plan to the city council.
But even if lawmakers opt to move forward, any changes will likely be years away. In a memo for Monday’s meeting, the city said the project will need to find funding for construction, and “if
awarded construction funding, the project will proceed with a detailed design phase but does not
expect construction to begin for several years.”
“We know this roadway works really well for cars,” Brandt-Vorel said. “But it’s not comfortable or safe for other users. And one of the goals in the city is to provide greater multimodal opportunities. And we want to design and retrofit existing roadways to be more inclusive and provide transportation options for everyone in the community.”
All of the options the city considered featured two-way bike lanes and a wider sidewalk on the southern side of the access road. But the recommended plan keeps two-way traffic along the access road between Quaker Lane and Taylor Street.
Between the entrance to the shopping center and North Dearing Street, traffic would transition to one-way, with the addition of the bus lane.
The bus lanes benefit buses and cars, Brandt-Vorel said, because “cars don’t get stuck behind buses, and buses can navigate more easily without cars being in their way. This is especially important for buses, as the corridor is one of the highest ridership corridors in the city.”
The slip lane from King Street to the access road will also get redesigned, Brandt-Vorel said, and it’s being shifted east so that “it now is going to provide direct connectivity into the Bradley Shopping Center in a traditional right turn with a new stop sign.”
The redesigned turn, she said, will cut down wait times to turn into the plaza.
The proposal includes a shared bus stop in the median, and would include a bus lane from North Dearing Street to Menokin Drive, and a bus-only lane on a portion of King Street.
One-way traffic on the stretch of the access road, Brandt-Vorel said, also simplifies turns for drivers.
“We’ve heard this is a really big concern, that the intersections are confusing,” Brandt-Vorel said. “So by reducing turn lanes, we are simplifying and addressing some of their safety issues.”
The other concept the city considered incorporated some of the other improvements but kept two-way traffic.
Critics of the city’s recommendation, though, argue there aren’t many cyclists in the area and the changes would make it difficult to access nearby neighborhoods.
Ken Notis, chair of Alexandria BPAC, wrote that while the group supports the project, “We believe it could do more to reduce speeding, increase comfort of people crossing the street, and generally improve safety.”
The Fairlington Towne Condominium Association, meanwhile, wrote that there are few cyclists who use the stretch of road and, “There are those of us who are bike riders ourselves and will tell you that cyclists will find ways to avoid this area.”
To improve safety in the short-term, the city is exploring speed feedback signs and making adjustments to signal timing, among others.
More information on the project is available online.
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