Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Neighborhood Complete Streets topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County presents neighborhood sidewalk projects; staff warns of trade‑offs on parking and easements
Summary
County staff presented four Neighborhood Complete Streets projects — North Van Buren, two Falls Church park connections, Shirlington Road, and a major 13th Street North build — and warned some designs may require easements or eliminate street parking to meet accessibility and safety goals.
Michelle Stafford, program coordinator for Neighborhood Complete Streets, walked the Pedestrian Advisory Committee through four candidate projects the program has been advancing since 2019 and said all are still at a conceptual stage.
"We do our best to balance all the different priorities," Stafford said, describing the program’s selection and engagement steps and noting the projects proceed to detailed design only after funding and easements are secured.
Key projects and trade‑offs: - North Van Buren (between 18th and 19th St. N.): Staff proposed completing a missing west‑side sidewalk that would connect directly to Benjamin Banneker Park. Stafford said the work would fit in county right‑of‑way with no curb‑line or parking changes as shown. - Falls Church park connections: Two small gaps near park entrances would add curb ramps and complete walking links; staff noted potential tree impacts and an existing utility pole that limits sidewalk placement. - Shirlington Road: A targeted project would route pedestrians to nearby 22nd Street using bump‑outs around utility poles rather than a full block rebuild, prioritizing a safe, accessible route to school and town square. - 13th Street North (near the YMCA, Quincy Park and the high school): The most complex proposal would build continuous sidewalk and could require up to 13 permanent easements; staff said the presented 'worst‑case' scenario would reduce parking from about 52 to 44 spaces in the study area, but emphasized staff will pursue easements and property discussions to avoid or reduce parking loss.
Committee members asked about sidewalk widths (staff said five feet is the goal where feasible, but ProAG accessibility rules allow as little as 48 inches in constrained locations), detectable‑warning strip placement, signage for accessible routing, and whether the projects could also include bicycle markings on streets where heavy bike traffic meets pedestrians. Stafford said some bicycle or pavement markings could be considered later in the design process but the current scope focuses on filling sidewalk gaps on local streets.
Committee action and next steps: Staff asked PAC to consider sending a supporting letter when the projects proceed to the county board later this summer; Rich Horstman and staff also asked PAC members to submit individual comments to the NVTA on a separate call for projects (NVTA public comment period closes May 17). Staff will circulate slide decks and QR codes for public engagement and follow up on detailed technical questions offline.
