Wilson & Washington Boulevard Intersection (Clarendon Circle)
Location
Intersection of Wilson, Clarendon and Washington Boulevards,, Arlington, VA 22201 View Map
38.8871134,-77.0952291
Intersection of Wilson, Clarendon and Washington Boulevards, ,
Arlington, VA 22201
Intersection of Wilson, Clarendon and Washington Boulevards, ,
Arlington, VA 22201
Wilson & Washington Boulevard Intersection (Clarendon Circle)
StatusComplete
Traffic Changes
Irving Street – Connection to Clarendon Circle permanently closed
North Irving Street (next to Silver Diner) is permanently closed at the intersection. Closing it helps make traffic operations simpler by reducing the number of streets at the intersection.
Washington Boulevard – No left turn to Wilson Boulevard
The left turn from westbound Washington Boulevard to Wilson Boulevard is permanently prohibited – Watch a video describing this change
Location
Intersection of Wilson, Clarendon and Washington Boulevards, commonly known as Clarendon Circle.
This project is next to the Washington Boulevard & 13th Street N. Improvements project
View Map
Status
Complete
The construction contract for this project was approved at the June 2018 County Board meeting. The contract was awarded to Ardent Construction Company.
The reconstruction of Clarendon Circle started in September 2018 and was completed in winter 2019/2020.
About the Project
Clarendon Circle was redesigned to improve access and safety for those who walk, bike and drive. Previously, travel across the intersection was difficult due to its extreme width and the skewed alignment of its roadways. North Irving Street also entered the circle area in two offset locations, further complicating the traffic pattern.
Design analysis for this intersection was performed as part of the development of the Clarendon Sector Plan and the Clarendon Multimodal Transportation Study. The design analysis strongly suggested that roundabouts, one-way street couplets and other alternative designs would have negative impacts on all modes of transportation, especially for pedestrians, and recommended improving the intersection by normalizing the existing geometry as much as possible and reducing its size. Planned improvements applied the Clarendon sector plan’s general design but reduced the overall size of the intersection.
Project goals included:
- Reducing intersection size and tightening the intersection geometry
- Shortening pedestrian crossing distances and widening crosswalk areas
- Better aligning Washington Boulevard and Wilson Boulevard
- Upgrading traffic signals
- Installing new Carlyle streetlights
- Providing wider center medians at all crossings
- Closing North Irving Street next to Silver Diner, adding a green streets element
- Adding curb extensions at the Liberty Tavern corner
- Adding bike lanes to improve bike lane connections
- Planting new street trees
Public Process
Project updates were shared with the Clarendon Alliance and neighborhood community groups:
County staff held presentations on the study in 2012 and received public feedback from the Transportation Commission, civic associations and Clarendon Alliance. In addition, an online survey was conducted in 2012.
Funding
Funding from the County's Transportation Capital Fund was used to administer, design and construct this project.
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