South Four Mile Run Drive Complete Streets Project

In Design

• Summer/Fall 2026 – S. George Mason Drive to S. Walter Reed Drive

Completed

• Summer 2023 – S. Walter Reed Drive to S. Nelson Street
• Fall 2022 – S. Nelson Street to S. Shirlington Road

• Provide continuous, accessible sidewalks and pedestrian access. 
• Enhance ramps and shorten pedestrian crossing distances where feasible
• 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 Route 75, Metro Route A71) for transit users
• Reconfigure the roadway to better serve all users, as indicated in the Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan

This project is guided by several County efforts, including:

Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan

• Parking: C2.b. Maximize On-Street Parking while also Ensuring Safety
• Transit: C4.b. Accommodate Improved Transit
• Walking & Biking: C3.a. Reconfigure the Roadway
• C3.b. Make South Side Sidewalks Continuous
• C3.c. Add Pedestrian Crossings/ Refuge Islands
• C3.g. Improve Curb Ramps and Intersections

Arlington County Master Transportation Plan (2008)

• Pedestrian Element: Policy 1: Complete the Network Policy 3: Comply with Accessibility Standards
• Policy 8: Improve Safety and Accessibility of Crossings
• Parking Element: Policy 3: Utilize On-Street Parking Efficiently
• Streets Element: Policy 4: Balance the Needs of All Users; Policy 8: Design for Lower Vehicle Speeds

Vision Zero – 2021 High Injury Network and Crash Hot Spots

• 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.
• Four Mile Run Drive is 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.
  • Four Mile Run Drive Safety Audit – Spring 2022

Level of Engagement: Involve

• Discuss project goals and how you currently use the streets
• Share specific ideas and concerns for the street sections

This input will be used to refine to goals and develop concept options.

Engagement Summary - Existing Conditions and Experiences

• Feedback Form Comments
• Interactive Map Comment

Learn more on the project page.

Consult

• 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
• Get a first look at the concept designs and elements developed based on what we have learned
• Learn more about next steps

Input gathered helped evaluate and refine the final concept design, to be implemented in August/September 2026 as part of routine repaving and resurfacing work.

Materials

• Concept Design Presentation Slides(PDF, 2MB)

Communicate

• See how community feedback was used, along with existing plan guidance, to create the final plan.
• Learn more about anticipated construction impacts and timeline.

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.