The long debate over whether to keep Seminary Road four lanes will end Saturday, Sept. 14 during the 9:30 a.m.City Council meeting.
That's the day the City Council will take its final vote on the Seminary Road resurfacing project following a public hearing. City staff will be recommending that Seminary Road remain in its current configuration with two lanes of traffic in each direction.
Every time a road in Alexandria is scheduled for resurfacing, city officials use it as an opportunity to assess the road's safety for all transportation modes, including looking at crosswalks, lane widths, vehicular speed and more.
Several proposals came out of studies and surveys for Seminary Road resurfacing, and some of those proposals included a "road diet" that would limit traffic and create dedicated bike lanes on the roadway.
Drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and commuters who use Seminary to cut through the city all weighed in during a series of public meetings and online with various concerns about speeding cars, not enough crosswalks, the ability for emergency services to access the hospital quickly, traffic back-ups, bicyclist safety and more.
Ultimately, the staff of the Transportation & Environmental Services (TES) in Alexandria will adopt the Traffic and Parking Board's recommendation to maintain four lanes of vehicle traffic and install HAWK signals to create safer pedestrian crossings. (HAWK signals stop road traffic as needed to facilitate safe crossings at designated crosswalks.) Those two HAWK signals will be placed at the Gaillard/Chapel Hill Bus Stop pair and another to be determined between St. Stephen's Road and Ft. Williams Parkway.
There is one appeal of the Traffic and Parking Board's decision, which means the City Council will also see a request to present Council with "Alternative 3," which repurposes lanes from four vehicle lanes to three lanes (one in each direction and a center turn lane) with bicycle lanes.
The City Council will take public comments at the Sept. 14 meeting and then vote on the final plan for the roadway.
The Alexandria Federation of Civic Associations recently voted unanimously to endorse the Traffic & Parking Board's recommendation to keep Seminary Road four lanes for cars.
