SUPERVISORS OK SEVERAL TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVES: Tucked in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ packed agenda April 16 were multiple transportation improvements in Providence and Dranesville districts.
Supervisors were slated to approve:
• Two speed humps and six speed tables on Towlston Road in the McLean/Great Falls area. The $90,000 traffic-calming project involves a speed hump adjacent to 1320 Towlston Road and another next to the Shrouse Village Community Association between 1305 and 1319 Towlston Road.
Also planned are speed tables along Towlston Road adjacent to 1324 Towlston Road, 1320 Schuman Court, 1411 Chopin Street, a Fairfax County School Board property next to the Colvin Run Elementary School footpath, and one each at 1435 and 1432 Towlston Road.
• Two “Watch for Children” signs on Horse Shoe Drive in the Vienna/Tysons area. The project will cost $600.
• “$200 Additional Fines for Speeding” signs along Randolph Road in McLean between Baron Road and Melrose Drive. The $500 project will be financed using funds from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s secondary-road-construction budget.
• Two “Watch for Children” signs along Randolph Road in McLean. The county government will finance this $600 project from its traffic-calming program’s budget.
HEARING COMING FOR PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS: Fairfax County supervisors on April 16 are expected to set a public hearing for May 7 at 4 p.m. to discuss proposed county-code amendments aimed at protecting pedestrians from vehicles.
The changes would allow the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to install and maintain signs at marked crosswalks indicating that motorists are required to stop for pedestrians. In addition, one of the amendments would prohibit motorists from overtaking vehicles that have stopped for pedestrians.
If supervisors approve the code amendments, officials subsequently would request to modify signage at a cost of $95,000. Those funds already are available.
TRAFFIC-CALMING CONTRACTS AWARDED IN VIENNA: Vienna Town Council members on April 8 approved an up-to-$116,000 contract with Ringer Design Associations to design traffic-calming safety improvements along Ayr Hill Avenue, N.W., near its intersection with Lawyers Road, N.W.
The project, which follows recommendations of the town’s Transportation Safety Commission, will bump out curb ramps on Ayr Hill Avenue at the intersection, as well as add curb-and-gutter nearby, replace or add sidewalks, and add driveway aprons and on-street parking lines where applicable.
The net effect of the upgrades will be to narrow Ayr Hill Avenue near the intersection, slowing traffic and creating a safer pedestrian environment, town officials said.
“I think this is a great effort to deal with that street situation,” said Council member Howard Springsteen, who said that area would benefit from a “one-two punch,” courtesy of sidewalk improvements planned for the other side of the intersection.
The town will pay for the contract using American Rescue Plan Act moneys. Officials expect design work to be completed this year, followed by the yet-to-be-approved construction phase, which would begin in 2025.
VIENNA MOVES AHEAD ON CULVERT REPLACEMENT: The Vienna town government is moving forward with plans to replace an existing culvert on Nutley Street, S.W., near the Marshall Street/ Virginia Center Boulevard intersection to mitigate flooding problems for surrounding homes.
Vienna Town Council members on April 8 awarded a $230,937 engineering-services contract to Whitman, Requardt & Associates LLP. The company will provide easement plats, utility test holes and design work for the project, which will replace the existing 36-inch-diameter culvert that crosses under Nutley Street with twin 10-by-6-foot culverts.
“This design will develop a comprehensive traffic-control plan,” said Vienna Public Works Director Brad Baer. “The intent is to keep two-way traffic, including pedestrian, open at all times.”
The project, which will be financed using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, aims to fix a problem caused by developments built decades ago before the institution of modern stormwater-management regulations, said Town Attorney Steven Briglia.
“The town inherited this problem,” he said. “It is not a town-created problem.”
Drainage conditions in the vicinity also have changed in recent years because of major improvements implemented along the Interstate 66, Baer said.
Council members, having viewed Baer’s recent photos of stormwater backing up as it tried to enter the culvert, said the project was crucial. One resident in the vicinity has bricked up the entrance to his basement to keep it from flooding, said Council member Howard Springsteen.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Mayor Linda Colbert said of the project. “I’m really glad we can help the neighbors.”
VIRGINIANS SPLIT ON BANNING CARBON-BASED VEHICLES IN POLLUTED AREAS: Take it for what it’s worth, but a new survey pegs Virginians in the middle of the pack when asked if they would support banning fossil-fuel-powered vehicles in cities several days per week to address pollution.
The survey of 3,000 Americans found that 54 percent of respondents nationwide would be willing to limit non-electric vehicle usage on certain days. At 51 percent, Virginia’s positive reaction ranked 28th nationally.
Such a ban might be improbable, but Joe Gunther IV, whose auto company Gunther Volvo Delray Beach commissioned the poll (and also sells its share of hybrid and electric vehicles), says these types of discussions are “playing a crucial role in the battle against climate change.”
(Find the full survey at https://www.gunthervolvo.com/clearer-comunities.htm.)
Nationally, Iowa had the largest percentage of respondents interested in a ban of some vehicles in cities at a whopping 85 percent, followed by Connecticut, Mississippi (“somewhat surprising,” pollsters said), Nevada and Indiana.
At the other end of the results, Rhode Island, Maine, Montana Hawaii and New Hampshire each had less than 30 percent support for the idea.
