Neighborhood Complete Streets Background
The Neighborhood Complete Streets (NCS) program was established by the County Board in January 2016 to address safety and access problems on local (non-arterial) residential streets through physical improvement projects.
The program was derived from a prior County program – Neighborhood Traffic Calming (NTC) – which worked to reduce the instances of speeding traffic on local residential streets. The NTC program funded and implemented traffic calming measures such as speed humps, traffic circles and roadway reconfigurations on more than 70 streets across Arlington. In 2014, the program was defunded with the intent that a replacement program with a more holistic approach to addressing safety and access improvements on local County streets was needed. The former Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee was rechartered as the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission and charged by the County Board to work with staff to produce a proposal for operation of a new Neighborhood Complete Streets program.
The Commission worked extensively with County staff and other community advisory commissions to draft the NCS Program Guide and Project Ranking Guidelines. Development of the guide was significantly influenced by an online survey conducted in 2015 and received input from more than 1,300 respondents.
Guided by community feedback, the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission and County staff updated the NCS Draft Program Guide and presented it to the County Board for approval at its January 2016 meeting. The County Board voted to accept the Program Guide and adopt the Project Ranking Guidelines. Several additions were incorporated into the two documents as part of the County Board’s acceptance and adoption.
Program Resources
Funding for the NCS program is provided by the County’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which is approved by the County Board typically on a bi-annual basis. This funding level sets the scope for the NCS program efforts that follow CIP approval.
Administration of the Neighborhood Complete Streets Program
The Transportation Planning and Capital Project Management Bureau, in the County’s Department of Environmental Services, is responsible for management of the NCS program and staffing the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission.
- The Program Guide provides the administrative procedures for operation of the NCS program including the identification and implementation of projects under the program.
- Updated Project Ranking Guidelines(PDF, 165KB) were accepted by the County Board in July 2020.