N Fairfax Drive - Neighborhood Complete Streets Project
StatusComplete
Location
North Fairfax Drive, between North Barton Street and 12th Court North, in the Clarendon-Courthouse neighborhood.
About the Project
The Neighborhood Complete Streets program is pursuing improvements to the pedestrian crossings on North Fairfax Drive, in the vicinity of Rocky Run Park. The project will also complete the sidewalk on the south side of the street, near the Arlington Boulevard multiuse trail.
The location received a high score and ranked highly among approximately 200 publicly nominated neighborhood street locations, using an objective criteria to sort and rank potential projects. Considerations include multiple crashes with injuries, proximity to transit and other attractors, park adjacency, school bus stops, and connections to bike facilities.
Activity in the area includes Rocky Run Park and facilities, active school bus stops, and in walking distance to transit and Metrorail in this dense, neighborhood with a mix of residential and commercial development.
Updated Project Scope - 2023
The scope of this project initially included reconfiguration of the three mid-block crossings into two, safer crossings near Rocky Run Park. The project completed design work and community engagement on those improvements with the understanding that a small, missing link of sidewalk would be completed by another County program. A final concept, informed by community feedback, was recommended for approval by the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission at a public Funding Hearing, and approved by the Arlington County Board in July 2022.
Since that time, funding for the sidewalk missing link was not secured. As a result, with the support of the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission, the concept was revised to include construction of missing sidewalk near Arlington Boulevard. This section of sidewalk is located in the County-owned right of way, adjacent to County property, with only temporary impacts experienced by adjacent property owners during construction. No changes to on-street parking are proposed by the addition of sidewalk completion in this project.
Project Design
The proposed improvements seek to provide more comfortable, accessible pedestrian crossings that will narrow the roadway and shorten the crossing distances at two locations adjacent to Rocky Run Park. The project also creates an estimated net of two additional parking spaces, by eliminating one existing pedestrian crossing and curb cut that is located in close proximity to two other crossings.
Public Process
The project was identified through the Neighborhood Complete Streets program process. It began with an application received from the Arlington community, which scored highly on an objective criteria matrix approved by the Arlington County Board, and initiated by the Neighborhood Complete Streets Commission on the advice of staff. Learn more about the Neighborhood Complete Streets process.
This has included the following efforts:
Funding
The estimated costs of this project are $145,000. The NCS program is funded through the County’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
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