18th Street South Complete Street Improvements (Crystal Dr to S. Bell)

• Streets Element: the County's Complete Street Policy (Streets Element Policy #4.2) informs the scope of this project to improve safety for all road users, including people walking, biking, taking transit and driving

• The 2021 Vision Zero Action Plan calls on County Transportation staff to take a proactive approach to safety, to eliminate severe and fatal crashes from our transportation network by 2030
• Separating vulnerable road users (people walking and biking) from motor vehicle traffic is a core, effective tool for eliminating severe and fatal crashes before they occur.

• Priority Action 9.2.1.5 specifies that the County should "[c]reate safe routes to parks and other public spaces by filling gaps in sidewalks and trails that connect public spaces to neighborhoods, schools, transit stations and other County facilities"

• Recommendation 4.2.4 (Transportation) outlines the focus on complete streets for Crystal City, stating "[t]he County’s approach to achieving complete streets and a robust transit system will be applied to give greater priority to transit users, pedestrians and bicyclists."
  • Action Item 18 calls for projects that "provide additional pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to public transit and the adjacent neighborhoods."

• The CCBN final recommendations memo calls for this segment of 18th Street S. to include a buffered bike lane on the southern, east-bound side of the street, and a partially protected, partially buffered bike lane to be included on the northern, west-bound side of the street.

Following the CCBN process, transportation staff advanced the concept design into a more detailed form to better reflect the evolving nature of the Crystal City streetscape and transportation needs for this corridor. In Fall 2024, the project team released a new concept design for public comment in coordination with the Department of Parks & Recreation's first open house for the Metro Market Square Park Master Planning Process.

• 30% Concept Design for the project - click to view a larger version of the concept design

From Oct. 23 through Nov. 4, 2024, the project team gathered public comment on the concept design to incorporate into the final concept, which will be advanced for engineering design and construction. A summary of the public input we received will be shared below when it is available.

Engagement Summary (Coming Soon)

Feedback was collected in one of two ways:

Submit your feedback online:

The project team launched an online feedback form on October 23, 2024 to gather input on the concept design. The feedback form highlighted the features of the concept design, and asked a few questions about the design. There was also an interactive map to gather location-specific comments people had about the design. The feedback form was open through the end of the day on Monday, November 4, 2024. 

At the Public Meeting:

The project team joined colleagues from Parks and Recreation at their Open House for Metro Market Square on October 23. DES staff answered questions about how this project interacts with the park, and collected input on the concept design.

• Date: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
• Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
• Location: 251 18th St. S., in the Main Floor Conference Center

Through the public process for the CCBN, transportation planning staff developed an initial cross-section for this corridor.

Featured improvements in this initial concept included:

• New sidewalks
• Street lighting
• Traffic signal reconfiguration
• Pick-up/Drop Off facilities
• Protected bike lanes in both directions
• Two general travel lanes in each direction