Fairfax County proposes six speed humps on Ben Franklin, Ridgeway and Wesley after traffic study

Ryan O' Carol, with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, presented a traffic-calming plan for Ben Franklin Road, Ridgeway Drive and Wesley Road at a community meeting on July 2, 2026, showing the streets met the program's traffic thresholds and proposing six speed humps across the three roadways.

The county's traffic study found Ben Franklin Road carried 1,413 vehicles per day with 85th-percentile speeds of about 35 mph in both directions; Ridgeway Drive had 811 vehicles per day with 85th-percentile speeds of about 34 mph northbound and 38 mph southbound; Wesley Road had 781 vehicles per day and 85th-percentile speeds of 37 mph eastbound and 34 mph westbound. FC DOT said the program requires a road to carry between 500 and 6,000 vehicles in a 24-hour period and to have an 85th-percentile speed at least 10 mph above the posted limit to advance to plan development.

Based on site visits and right-of-way constraints such as driveways, manholes and grade, FC DOT proposed one 12-foot-long, 3-inch-high speed hump on Ben Franklin Road, three speed humps on Ridgeway Drive and two on Wesley Road. The speed-hump schematic shown to attendees included chevrons in each travel lane and signs recommending a 15 mph advisory speed at the device.

FC DOT stressed that adjacent property owners directly next to any proposed device must sign off on placement before the plan moves forward. If the plan advances from the community and task-force stage, it will proceed to a ballot of occupied properties in the ballot area and, if approved, be presented to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for endorsement before installation is scheduled with the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.

Residents at the meeting raised questions about how the plan was developed and whether the devices would fit on the existing roadway. FC DOT staff answered specifics about spacing requirements for vertical devices (minimum 300 feet between measures and from existing stop conditions, minimum 150 feet from intersections and minimum continuous sight distance of 150 feet) and noted device placement must fit within the roadway cross-section.

Next steps for the task force are to decide whether to move forward with the proposed plan, request an optional ballot-process meeting with FC DOT for more detail, and complete and distribute the ballot packages to the 194 occupied properties in the ballot area if they choose to proceed. The county will publish the meeting recording and distribute slides through the Franconia District Supervisor's Office.