Wilson Boulevard & N Rhodes Street Intersection Safety Project

Status

In Design

This project is currently in the design phase. The county has reviewed community input on a preliminary concept design, and a summary of what we heard is now available to the public. Progress towards a final concept design is underway.

About this Project

This capital project originated as a Vision Zero Quick Build project to construct a floating bus island at the northeast corner of this intersection. After reviewing the safety needs and design standards, transportation staff determined that a more expansive project covering the entire intersection would better address all of the safety and operational issues present at this intersection.

This intersection was identified for improvements in 2019 to address conflicts between people biking and transit vehicles servicing the bus stop. It also appeared on the 2022 Vision Zero Crash Hot Spot Analysis, which indicated that there were a high number of pedestrian crashes at this intersection. It will also include necessary upgrades to traffic signal equipment for all approaches to the intersection and undergrounding utilities within the project limits.

To resolve these safety and operational issues, the project team will be applying Complete Streets principles as outlined in the Master Transportation Plan’s Streets Element. By reviewing safety and operational data, crash reports, public input and design standards, we will work to make this intersection function better for all road users.

Project Basis

Planning guidance from this project comes from the following County Board-adopted plans and policies, as well as DES policies for maintaining our infrastructure:

Master Transportation Plan

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.
Bicycle Element: This segment of Wilson Blvd is included in the Bicycle and Trail network as an existing facility and a "Primary Bicycling Corridor"

Vision Zero Action Plan

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
Crash data analysis conducted in 2022 as part of the County's Vision Zero efforts showed that this intersection was a high crash location for pedestrians, who are disproportionately represented in severe and fatal crashes in Arlington.

State of Good Repair

Updating traffic signal equipment to meet county standards through the Traffic Signal Upgrades program

Public Process

Public engagement occurred in two primary phases – in the preliminary design phase to inform the initial concept designs, and during the concept design phase, to gather feedback on the initial concept designs.

Spring 2025 - Concept Design

Engagement Summary(PDF, 153KB)

After coordination with an adjacent residential development, the project team advanced a draft concept design for public input. This concept design was developed using safety and operational data, staff observations at the intersection, public input and other information we gathered, along with relevant goals of the plans and guidance adopted by the County Board.

Annotated concept design for safety improvements at the intersection Wilson Blvd and N. Rhodes Street in Arlington, calling for curb extensions, a bus stop island serving the WMATA and ART bus routes on west bound Wilson Blvd, a pedestrian refuge space between the travel lanes and the separated bike lane, and curb extensions at all four corners, reducing crossing distances for people walking.

View a larger version of the Concept Design(PDF, 788KB)

An online engagement form with more information about the proposed concept was released in April 2025 for public input. The online form closed on May 4, 2025.

English | Spanish

A summary of the feedback we received is below, along with the complete set of comments we received.

The project team will use this input to refine the concept design and share back a final concept that will advance to engineering design and construction. The final concept design will be shared here when it is ready, with a summary of changes incorporated from public input.

Fall 2023 - Existing Conditions and Your Experiences

Engagement Summary(PDF, 355KB)

For the initial public engagement opportunity, the project team shared what we learned as we reviewed the existing conditions at this intersection and gathered input from the community on their experiences in this corridor. We used this feedback to inform a concept design for the intersection.

Engagement Summary - Existing Conditions and Experiences(PDF, 355KB)

The now-closed Online Feedback Form is available for review using one of the links below: