More than 200 people packed the dining hall at St. Stephens and St. Agnes Upper School Monday night to discuss proposed changes to Seminary Road.
City of Alexandria officials are proposing three possible plans for the future of Seminary Road and are asking the public for input.
The proposed changes are part of the Seminary Road Complete Streets project. Seminary Road is scheduled for repaving this fall, and Alexandria officials are using the repaving as an opportunity to assess road conditions, safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, and to find ways to reduce the number of accidents on the thoroughfare.
Nearly 200 people packed the dining hall at St. Stephens and St. Agnes Upper School Monday evening for a community open house regarding the proposed changes to Seminary Road from Quaker Lane west to Jordan Street. (See the handouts from Monday night’s meeting here.)
A number of residents expressed concern about traffic flow and the ability of emergency vehicles to get through traffic.
Other residents expressed concerned about speeding on Seminary Road, pedestrian safety and the ability of residents to get in and out of their driveways and side streets safely. A handful of people who bicycle on Seminary Road expressed concerns about their own safety amidst speeding cars. The speed limit on Seminary Road is 25 mph, but vehicles frequently exceed the posted limit.
An online survey is open will be available Thursday through April 10 for community feedback. The survey is available at www.alexandriava.gov/103393. Materials from the community meeting will also be available Thursday.
The stated goals of the Seminary Road Complete Streets project are to:
- Improve mobility, safety and access for all users
- Provide continuous, safe, comfortable places for people to walk
- Provide more frequent and safer crossing opportunities along the corridor
- Reduce crashes
- Minimize delay at intersections, and encourage speed limit compliance
- Where excess roadway capacity exists, explore opportunities to reconfigure the corridor to serve all modes.
The three design alternatives are as follows:
Alternative 1 – This plan would optimize the existing layout of Seminary Road by maintaining two lanes in each direction. Upgrades to crosswalks and narrower lane widths to discourage speeding are part of this plan.
Alternative 2 – This plan would maintain two travel lanes westbound but reduce the one travel lane eastbound, making room for a bike lane on each side. New, upgraded crosswalks would be put in place “where feasible.”
Alternative 3 – This plan proposes one through-lane in each direction with space for a center left-turn lane (which may be used as a median or pedestrian refuge island). Buffered bike lanes are a possibility in this plan and signal operations would be changed to mitigate the impacts on traffic.
In a graded comparison of all three options, Alternative 3 received the highest across-the-board scores for “substantially improved conditions or fully preserve existing strengths of Seminar Road.”
Alternative 3 received 5 points (the highest possible) for filling in gaps in sidewalks along Seminary Road, calming traffic, providing the best crash reduction possibilities and providing buffered bicycle lanes. However, it scored lowest among the three alternatives for minimizing vehicle delays.
Neither Alternative 2 nor Alternative 1 received any 5-point scores in the comparison. (See the full scoresheet with additional details below.)
All three alternatives take into account an increase of 2 percent in traffic in the next year, or an increase of more than 300 cars per day.
However, the change comes at the same time Alexandria City Public Schools are considering moving all 800 MacArthur Elementary School students to the old Patrick Henry Elementary School (starting in 2020) while MacArthur is built.
The current plans do not call for significant changes west of Jordan Street to I-395. Changes that are proposed include widening sidewalks and creating high-visibility crossings for pedestrian safety. A walk audit will be conducted in the next two years to determine what other improvements to this area, near Hammond Middle School, will be made.
For more information on the Seminary Road Complete Streets project, go to www.alexandriava.gov/103393.
(To download a PDF that includes this Alternatives Comparison, click here.)
City of Alexandria
