The Seminary Road Complete Streets Program mostly accomplished its goals, according to Alexandria city officials.
City Council voted in September 2019 to put Seminary Road on a “diet,” reducing two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction, a center turn lane and bike lanes.
In the months before the vote, community meetings drew hundreds of residents — some of whom wanted traffic to slow down on the residential thoroughfare, and others who couldn't believe the city would even consider reducing the number of driving lanes. Ultimately, the vote was 4 to 3 in favor of the road diet.
More than two years later, city officials say they made the right decision. A report shows that:
- Speeds decreased slightly but did not display a noticeable difference.
- Traffic did not appear to divert to neighborhood streets, with one exception: Vehicle volumes on Ft. Williams Parkway saw an increase in both directions of 12 to 33 percent.
- Peak period travel times on Seminary Road decreased by 35 to 60 seconds. Reductions eastbound were marginally greater than trips traveling west.
- Bicycle ridership on the road increased. Pedestrian usage decreased.
- The percentage of drivers traveling more than 35 mph on the roadway has decreased significantly.
A few high-profile, high-speed crashes on the roadway have damaged pedestrian infrastructure, and the city is working to get new equipment, again, to replace that damaged by cars.
The one thing the city wanted — a sidewalk on the north side of the road outside the Virginia Theological Seminary — has proved cost-prohibitive. The Virginia Dept. of Transportation denied funding for the sidewalk, and the city has not come up with the $1 million it would cost to install it.
The complete report is available here.
