Shirlington Road - Resurfacing for Complete Streets 2023

Status

On Hold

Location

Shirlington Road between S. Kenmore Street and Four Mile Run Drive in the Green Valley neighborhood.

About the Project

This corridor is being considered for improvements in safety and access as part of the Resurfacing for Complete Streets - 2023 season.

Project goals

Improve safety and access of the street by considering improvements that can be made through routine street maintenance

Project Background

Master Transportation Plan

Streets Element: The Complete Street policy informs the scope of this project to improve safety for all road users.

Vision Zero

Vision Zero policies call on County staff and the Arlington community to take a proactive approach to safety in order to eliminate severe and fatal crashes from our transportation network by 2030.

High Injury Network: The intersection of Shirlington Road and S. Four Mile Run Drive is part of Arlington County’s High Injury Network (2021). This intersection experiences high concentrations of critical crashes compared to other corridors in Arlington.

Four Mile Run Drive High Injury Network Safety Audit – Spring 2022

While Shirlington Road is not part of the high injury network, Shirlington Road has a history of crashes involving pedestrians and property damage, as well as alcohol-involved crashes.

Crash Hot Spots: The intersection of Shirlington Road & S. Four Mile Run Drive was identified as crash hot spot in 2019 for bicycle crashes.

The Green Valley (formerly Nauck Village Center) Action Plan (2004) recommends establishing Shirlington Road as a vital multimodal corridor with improved pedestrian and transit access.

The Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan (2018) emphasizes improvements to the intersection of Shirlington Road and Four Mile Run Drive.

Existing Conditions

Roadway characteristics

Shirlington Road is a minor arterial road. South of Kemper Street, Shirlington Road has two vehicle lanes in each direction, a northbound bicycle lane, and no parking. North of Kemper Street, Shirlington Road has one vehicle lane in each direction and a center two-way-left-turn lane. It also has bicycle lanes in each direction, and parallel parking on the west side of the road.

Speed

The posted speed limit is 25 mph. The average weekday 85^th percentile speed was 28 mph (2021 Streetlight Location-Based data).

Destinations

This section of road is close to a variety of community amenities, including parks (Drew Park, John Robinson Jr. Town Square, Jennie Dean Park), trails (W&OD, Four Mile Run), churches, and other recreation facilities, such as the Charles Drew Community Center. This corridor is within the walk zone of Drew Elementary School. There are also several other schools nearby (Wakefield High School, Claremont Elementary School, and Gunston Middle School). The commercial uses along this roadway section are often frequented by larger vehicles.

Transit

This corridor serves WMATA’s 10B, 23A, 23B, and 23T transit routes, as well as ART’s 87 transit route.

About the Process

Public engagement will occur in two primary phases – in the preliminary design phase to inform the initial concept designs, and during the concept design phase, to gather feedback on the initial concept designs.