National Park Service officials are asking for comments here about your commute on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The NPS is looking for ways to make the GW Parkway safer for all commuters, including walkers and bikers. The survey is open through Aug. 21.
Maps, graphics and initial study data is available here, and NPS officials suggest reviewing it before commenting. In several areas, the curvature of the road or vegetation prevent safe sight lines for those turning onto the Parkway.
Specifically, NPS is looking at the safety of a number of intersections on the Parkway. From North to South, they are the intersections of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and:
- Belle Haven Road
- Belle View Boulevard
- Tulane Drive
- Morningside Drive
- Wellington Road
- Collingwood Road
- Waynewood Boulevard
- Vernon View Drive
- Stratford Lane
Speed is a factor on the Parkway, as the road was designed when cars traveled much slower.
"The part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway between the City of Alexandria and Mount Vernon originally opened in 1932 as the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. At the time of its construction between 1929 and 1932, the project's designers pioneered principles that influenced federal roadway projects throughout the nation," according to NPS. "This part of the parkway was the first comprehensively designed modern motorway built by the federal government. It is based on the idea of a landscaped, park-like roadway corridor that protected riverfront lands. Its design provides early examples of limited access construction, grade separated intersections, cloverleaf interchanges, and landscape design, many of which are still in use today."
