City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 7, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER/s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage of a Proposed Amendment to Title 10 (Motor Vehicles and Traffic), Chapter 1 (General Provisions) of The Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as Amended.
BODY
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ISSUE: City Council consideration of a Traffic and Parking Board recommendation to prohibit through truck traffic in the 2100 through 2200 blocks of North Early Street between Braddock Road and North Menokin Drive.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council approve the proposed Ordinance (Attachment 2) on first reading and set the Ordinance for public hearing, second reading, and final passage on Saturday, May 17, 2014.
BACKGROUND: North Early Street is classified as a local street on the City's street classification map and provides a connection between King Street and Braddock Road. This section of North Early Street has 38 residential homes and has no commercial properties.
The Traffic and Parking Board considered this request at the Board's March 24, 2014 meeting. Following the public hearing, the Board voted unanimously to recommend a prohibition of through truck traffic on North Early Street between King Street and Braddock Road. As a traffic control action affecting truck routes in the City, Council approval of this recommendation is required.
DISCUSSION: North Early Street traverses between Braddock Road and Menokin Drive and is a natural cut-through for vehicles desiring to bypass congestion at the King Street, Quaker Lane, and Braddock Road intersection. Drivers can use North Early Street to get from King Street to Braddock Road or vice versa. North Early Street is a residential road and is approximately 28 feet wide with parking allowed on both sides of the street. A number of trucks have been using North Early Street as a cut-through, particularly construction trucks. Truck traffic needs to be controlled because it is out of character on this residential street and negatively impacts the livability of the community. In addition, the roadway pavement was not designed to accommodate the stresses induced by these heavy vehicles.
Residents have expressed concern about commercial trucks using North Early Street as a cut- through and have requested "No Through Trucks" to prevent trucks from using North Early Street. They are also concerned with the volume and the speed of traffic. Staff looked into these concerns as well.
City Staff conducted a volume and vehicle classification study. The volume study yielded an average daily volume of approximately 1300 vehicles on North Early Street. By way of example, Yale Drive between Janney's Lane and Vassar Road carries approximately 1800 vehicles per day, and Fillmore Avenue between Chambliss Street and Stevens Avenue carries approximately 1300 vehicles per day. Although the traffic volume on North Early Street is within the expected range for a neighborhood Street, this volume is high considering there are only 38 homes. The houses on North Early Street by themselves would only be expected to generate 300 to 500 trips per day. Considering this, approximately two-thirds of the traffic on North Early Street is cut-through traffic.
The classification study showed six large commercial vehicles that traveled on North Early Street over a two day study period. This number is high considering there are only 38 homes. The study was conducted in mid-January and the number of trucks will increase as the weather warms. Many of the cut through trucks in the past have been construction related traffic, usually dump trucks. Last summer due to truck traffic, staff contacted several construction sites to have the superintendents instruct their truck drivers not to use North Early Street. When staff was meeting with the residents last summer, several large trucks drove down the street during the 45 minute meeting duration. The residents recently noticed a number of trucks from Bradlee Shopping Center using the street as it is easier to access Braddock Road from the loading dock area than King Street. The study also revealed a large number of buses using North Early Street. This is to be expected because this section of North Early Street is on a DASH bus route. The proposed restriction will not impact transit vehicles.
City Staff investigated the safety history on North Early Street. A total of nine incidents occurred in the past five years either on North Early Street or near the intersections of North Early Street and Braddock Road or North Early Street and Menokin Drive. Five of these accidents either occurred on North Early Street or dealt with traffic turning from or onto North Early Street. The other four occurred either on Braddock Road or Menokin Drive and did not include traffic movements on North Early Street. There have been no reported accidents involving trucks.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact on the City government.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Ordinance Cover
Attachment 2: Ordinance
Attachment 3: Map of Area
STAFF
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
James Banks, City Attorney
Richard J. Baier, P.E., LEED AP, Director, T&ES
Sandra Marks, Acting Deputy Director, T&ES
Jerome Fletcher, Special Assistant to the City Manager
Antonio J. Baxter, Division Chief, Strategic Management Services, T&ES
Bob Garbacz, Division Chief, Transportation, T&ES