This section of South Four Mile Run Drive will pilot a roadway reconfiguration identified in the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan. The project can be implemented using low-cost, interim measures to facilitate easy installation and evaluation. The data collected will help determine the viability of longer-term roadway reconstructions that could potentially add sidewalks, landscaping and green infrastructure, as appropriate.

The County’s adopted Vision Zero Action Plan, adopted in 2020, highlights South Four Mile Run Drive as part of the County’s High-Injury Network (i.e., corridors in the county with higher densities of crashes resulting in a serious or fatal injury) and identifies crash hot spots including the intersection of South Four Mile Run Drive and South Walter Reed Drive and Shirlington Road and 27th Street South, which are located on either ends of the project corridor.

County staff will assess and address safety issues along South Four Mile Run Drive as part of this project, as well as other projects and initiatives, to continue to work toward safer conditions throughout the corridor.

Several Arlington County plans and programs help inform this project.

• Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan
• Four Mile Run Valley Parks Master Plan
• Arlington County Master Transportation Plan
• Vision Zero – 2021 High Injury Network and Crash Hot Spots
  • Four Mile Run Drive Safety Audit – Spring 2022

• Support Jennie Dean Park renovation by maximizing on-street parking while also ensuring safety for pedestrians and maintaining appropriate traffic flow.
• Provide a continuous pedestrian pathway along S Four Mile Run Drive. The pathway will run along the north side between Shirlington Road and Oakland Street and transition to the south side between Oakland Street and Walter Reed Drive. 
• Enhance ramps and shorten pedestrian crossing distances at Shirlington Road and S Nelson Street to increase pedestrian safety and access to Jennie Dean Park, nearby trails and other destinations in Green Valley and Shirlington.
• Reduce vehicle speeds (currently averaging about 10MPH above the speed limit) to improve safety for all road users.
• Improve safety and accessibility to nearby bus stops (ART Routes 75 & 87, Metro Routes 10B, 23A/B/T) for transit users.
• In order to achieve project goals, a roadway reconfiguration is necessary for this section of Four Mile Run Drive, as indicated in the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan. 

The interim concepts for S. Four Mile Run Drive implemented in 2023 and 2022 achieved some of the long-term vision for S. Four Mile Run Drive, including reconfiguring the roadway from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction with a center turn lane. Others, such as a continuous, ADA-compliant sidewalk on the south side of the street, were not safely feasible to implement in the short-term.

Concept Design - Winter 2023/4

Community feedback from Phases 1 and 2 of the interim design concepts, along with County planning guidance, traffic data and business feedback will help inform the development of a Long-Term Concept Design.

• The project team will host a virtual meeting (date TBD).
  • This meeting will offer the ability to:
    • Learn more about the long-term vision for the roadway from The Four Mile Run Valley Area plan
    • See how community feedback helped us revise the concept design
    • Ask questions and share your feedback
    • Learn more about next steps

  • If you are unable to attend, a recording of the meeting as well as an online feedback form will be available on this page after the event.

• A safe and continuous, ADA-compliant sidewalk on the south side of the street will make changes to existing driveways to meet current County standards
• • The project team is coordinating with businesses with frontages on the south side of the street to understand their current operations and needs

• Based on community feedback and existing plan guidance, a final concept for Phase 2 was implemented in 2023.
• Final concept design (interim northside walking path)
  • The northside walking path improvements are intended to be an interim solution until the long term vision for the corridor can be designed and constructed.
  • The long term vision for the corridor will construct a new sidewalk on the south side as shown in the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan.
  • Public engagement for this long term vision will begin in late summer/early fall 2023.

• Virtual Meeting: The project team held a third virtual community meeting on Wednesday, April 12.

• This meeting offered the ability to:
• • Learn more about the long-term vision for the roadway from The Four Mile Run Valley Area plan
  • See how community feedback helped us revise the interim concept design
  • Ask questions and share your feedback
  • Learn more about next steps
• Meeting materials
• • Revised concept design
  • Video recording
  • Presentation slides 

• Virtual Meeting: The project team held a second community meeting on August 17.

• The meeting offered the ability to:

• Learn more about the long-term vision for the roadway from The Four Mile Run Valley Area plan
• See the types of short-term improvements that can be made this season through repaving and remarking
• Review what we heard from you about how the corridor functions today
• Get a first look at the concept designs and elements developed based on what we have learned
• Learn more about next steps

• Engagement and meeting materials

• Video recording
• Presentation slides
• Community engagement feedback summary

Input gathered helped evaluate and refine the final concept design, implemented in 2023.

• Virtual Meeting: County transportation staff hosted a virtual community meeting to learn more about phase two of the South Four Mile Run Drive Complete Streets project, located between S Walter Reed Drive and S Nelson Street. 

• The meeting offered the ability to:

• Learn more about the long-term vision for the roadway from The Four Mile Run Valley Area plan
• See the types of short-term improvements that can be made this season through repaving and remarking
• Share your feedback about how the corridor functions today to help inform concept designs

• Engagement and meeting materials

• Video recording
• Presentation slides
• Community engagement summary
• Staff reviewed feedback received from the online meeting, online feedback form, in-person at the pop-up event, and via email.
• Input received helped staff develop a concept designs for the corridor.

• Based on community feedback and existing plan guidance, a final concept for Phase 1 has been developed and was implemented as part of the Fall 2021 repaving season.
• Engagement and meeting materials
  • View a summary of community feedback(PDF, 224KB) and how it helped shape the Phase 1 final concept
  • Full community feedback data(XLSX, 72KB)
  • Final project concept(PDF, 944KB)

• Virtual Meeting: County staff hosted a virtual community meeting. Based on guidance from existing plans, the project team shared a concept design that includes potential options on pedestrian pathway connectivity, an additional crosswalk location and different parking use-type scenarios.
• The meeting offered the ability to:
  • Learn about project goals and existing plan guidance
  • Review the project concept and options
  • Share your feedback

• Input gathered helped evaluate and refine the final concept design.