City of Alexandria staff are recommending a partial reduction in lanes and multiple intersection improvements along Seminary Road.
Staff presented the recommendations at an open house and community meeting that at times got tense and loud Thursday evening at St. Stephens & St. Agnes School. Residents holding "Keep Seminary 4 Lanes!" signs, residents supporting the staff recommendations, bikers and walkers clashed in a lengthy Q&A session. Some residents expressed concern about whether the plans were short-sighted, given major upcoming developments planned for the West End, including Landmark Mall.
The major east-west thoroughfare is scheduled for repaving later this year, and city officials have gone through an extensive process to gather resident feedback over the past year online and in sometimes-heated public meetings. Over the past year, residents have voiced concerns about traffic flow (particularly during rush hours), vehicle speed, pedestrian safety, bicyclist safety and crosswalks.
Transportation & Environmental Services head Yon Lambert said the recommendations presented Thursday night exist “because we did listen. We listened a lot to the input we heard you give us. … We listened but we also tried to balance the competing interests that are at play here.”
He later acknowledged that making everyone happy with any decision will be impossible.
Ultimately, the project will close major sidewalk gaps and provide for more safe pedestrian crossings on Seminary Road, according to city officials. Shared bicycle/vehicle lanes will be added east of Howard Street.
The proposed new sidewalks will not appear at the same time as the repaving – that improvement may take a state grant or additional funding to complete in the years ahead. In the meantime, painted sidewalks may be created.
Complete information about the process and PDFs of the staff recommendation maps are available here.
The Process Going Forward
The staff recommendation presented at the community meeting Thursday night will go to the Traffic and Parking Board in a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 24.
With additional public input, the Traffic and Parking Board will make a decision on the city staff recommendation. That decision and resulting recommendation will go to the City Council in September at a date to-be-determined.
“Although what you’re seeing is a staff recommendation, this could very easily not be what city council recommends for Seminary Road,” Lambert explained.
The staff recommendation map (below) addresses the roadway and sidewalks along Seminary Road from Howard Street (that’s the road Inova Alexandria is on) east to the intersection at Quaker Lane. There will be some improvements west of Howard Street, as well.
City of Alexandria
At the intersection of Howard and Seminary (image below):
- There will remain two lanes in each direction at Seminary Road.
- Traffic signals will be optimized for better traffic flow.
- Existing crosswalks will be upgraded.
- Lanes will be narrowed slightly to discourage speeding.
- The “slip lane” on southbound Howard Road that allows vehicles to merge onto Seminary Road westbound will be removed to slow traffic.
City of Alexandria
At the intersection of Seminary Road and Chapel Hill (image above):
- A median island will be installed for pedestrian safety.
- HAWK signals will be used to allow pedestrians to cross at bus stops.
At St. Stephens and Seminary Road (image below):
- A new crosswalk will be added to this intersection.
- One eastbound lane will become right-turn only.
- After the intersection, one eastbound lane will drop off, so traffic eastbound will have one travel lane (a reduction from two).
- Two new crosswalks will be added east of the St. Stephens intersection.
City of Alexandria
At Quaker Lane and Seminary Road (image below):
There will be no exclusive left-turn lanes eastbound or westbound. The current eastbound left turn only lane will become straight + left, and the right lane will become right turn only.
City of Alexandria
What about west of Howard?
Seminary Road west of Howard Street to Kenmore will be paved at the same time as the rest of Seminary Road. However, some sidewalk improvements will take additional time.
Residents have expressed serious concerns about pedestrian safety in this area with a public library on the north side of the road and Hammond Middle School on the south side, both just feet from the I-395 intersection.
Recommendations west of Howard include multiple high-visibility crosswalks and adjustments to signal timing to help prioritize public transit. Widened and ADA accessibility improvements are part of the recommendations, as well.
City of Alexandria
Larger versions of all images in this article are available from the City of Alexandria on the Seminary Complete Streets Project website here.
