According to surveys of residents, traffic congestion is one of the biggest challenges to getting around in Alexandria.
Now, City staff has a request from Mayor Justin Wilson and two city council members to look into programs that may be able to reduce cut-through traffic and slow down traffic on residential streets.
A memo from Mayor Wilson, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and Council Member John Taylor Chapman requests that Transportation & Environmental Services (TES) staff to consider two programs to “reduce the volume of cut-through traffic on uniquely impacted residential streets.”
The two programs are possible thanks to state laws that allow Alexandria to create a residential permit program that restricts turns into or out of certain residential areas during rush hour. In addition, the City now has the authority to levy higher fines for speeding on residential streets.
City staff will be researching whether to put forth proposals for both programs.
More details are available in the memo, which was posted to TrafficZen — Central Alex. Citizens for Traffic Safety & Less Congestion on Facebook this week (see the complete memo below).
In an interview published in the March issue of Alexandria Living Magazine, TES Director Yon Lambert said Alexandria does have a handful of roads where traffic safety conditions warranted turn restrictions during certain hours. However, these regulations can make travel more difficult for residents of those neighborhoods.
A permit program could help those residents by allowing only certain people to turn onto selected streets, but regular, consistent enforcement would be a challenge and a potential strain on police resources.
In addition, systems like the navigation app Waze would likely just route traffic onto other side streets, pushing the problem into other residential neighborhoods.
So what is Alexandria doing about cut-through traffic? According to Lambert:
• Road design is part of the equation: By designing roads to accommodate local traffic and enhance safety for all users, highways and major arterial roads will look like a better, faster option for commuters.
• The Virginia Dept. of Transportation is working additional information signs for Beltway and I-395 Drivers (such as those signs that say “D.C. Line 9 miles, 10 minutes”) that can encourage drivers to stay on the highways.
• Smart Mobility in Alexandria will help improve signal timing to keep people moving on the arterials and provide data for traffic engineers to make well-informed decisions.
• The Alexandria Transit Vision will help make public transit more efficient and a more attractive option. Plus, an increase in regional cooperation combined with more investments will make transit more efficient and effective for commuters, which may also help alleviate congestion.
• Intelligent development will help, as well: Alexandria is increasingly focused on new developments that are walkable, mixed-use and “live, work, play”-focused, which can help reduce car trips.
