Vacation Lane & Lorcom Lane Intersection Improvements Project

In Design

Concept Design Engagement Summary Now Available

The project team has published a summary of the public input on the preliminary concept design that we received in Spring 2025.

Review the Summary

Location

Lorcom Lane, Arlington, VA 22207  View Map

Google Map

Status

In Design

The project team has gathered and reviewed public input on a preliminary concept for the intersection and is advancing design development towards a final concept using this feedback, operational data, and design guidance from local and state sources.

About the Project

Project Goals

  • Improve intersection safety for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving at this busy intersection in a school walk zone
  • Assess the intersection for a potential traffic signal and/or other activated safety infrastructure, such as Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs)
  • Update sidewalks and pedestrian ramps to meet the most recent accessibility standards

About the Project

In 2023, County transportation staff received several requests for a Transportation / Safety Investigation through the County's Report A Problem application from residents and parents of Dorothy Hamm students, raising issues about safety at the intersection for people walking through the intersection. Common themes of these submissions included:

  • Noting that drivers often failed to yield to people crossing the street at this intersection
  • Reporting high vehicle speeds on Lorcom Lane through this intersection
  • Requesting additional traffic control devices

Planning Basis

Planning guidance from this project comes from the following County Board-adopted plans and policies:

Master Transportation Plan

  • Streets Element: Calls for Complete Streets improvements across the county’s transportation network, especially on arterial roads, to serve all road users.
  • Pedestrian Element: Calls for projects to improve walkways and increase walking for transportation with high-quality facilities

Vision Zero Action Plan

  • Calls for Capital Projects to address safety issues that can lead to severe and fatal crashes as part of the Countywide effort to eliminate severe injuries and fatalities from our transportation network by 2030.

 

Public Process

Spring 2025 - Preliminary Concept Design Engagement

Engagement Summary(PDF, 2MB)

DES transportation staff developed a preliminary concept design that addresses the issues identified with the intersection today and delivers on the goals for this project, and are now seeking public input on the concept design.

This concept was developed using the feedback we received in constituent reports via Report a Problem, along with planning guidance, safety and operational data, and field observations by our project team.

Concept Design - Lorcom and Vacation Raised Intersection (Overhead).png 

The concept design features a raised intersection, which functions similarly to a speed hump or speed cushion by bringing the level of the asphalt through the intersection up to the same level as the sidewalk.

Concept Design - Lorcom and Vacation Raised Intersection (Perspective).png

View a larger version of this concept design rendering(PDF, 8MB)

Public Feedback

A summary of what we hear is available below. The project team will use this feedback to refine the design and develop a final concept to advance for engineering and construction.

Engagement Summary(PDF, 2MB)

How We Gathered This Input

The online feedback form linked below contains additional details about the project and how we developed the preliminary concept design. This online form was open through June 17, 2025.

English | Spanish

Project staff were also in attendance at the Northern Arlington Infrastructure Projects Open House event on May 20, hosted at Dorothy Hamm Middle School. Staff shared more details about the project, gathered input from attendees there and provided a link to the online feedback form.

During the course of public engagement, the project team received several questions related to the proposed design concept. These questions and their answers can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document linked below.

 

2024 - Transportation Engineering & Operations Analysis

As part of project, Arlington County Transportation staff assessed this intersection for additional traffic control devices, including:

The engineering assessment by Transportation Engineering & Operations bureau staff concluded that:

  • The intersection does not meet Federal warrants or County standards for a full traffic signal 
  • The intersection does not meet Federal warrants or the county's standards for a PHB, because it is not a multilane roadway and is not a mid-block location
  • The intersection ranks low in the County's prioritization of RRFB installations
  • The intersection does not meet federal warrants or County standards for all-way stop signs

Following the completion of this analysis, project staff looked for other ways to address the issues present at this intersection.

 

 

 

Funding

This capital project is funded by the County's Capital Improvement Program using local funds.

Project Contacts

Project Manager

Zuhra Malik

703-228-5167

 

Media Inquiries

Claudia Pors

703-228-0745

Get Project Updates

Back to top