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TextMason District BRAC 133 Task Force
April 5, 2011 Minutes
Called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Barry Wilson
Attendance of Task Force Members
Bill Pike
Dorothy Beck
Rita Zimmerman
Elizabethe Hall
Kathy Hart
Barry Wilson
Linda Mass
Linda Shapiro
Task Force Members excused from Meeting
David Dexter
Others in Attendance
Supervisor Penny Gross
Clara Pizana – Office of Supervisor Gross
Thomas Burke - FCDOT
David Grover - BRAC Coordinator for City of Alexandria
Stephen Del Giudice - Arlington County Transit Bureau Chief
Leonard Wolfenstein - Chief, Transportation Planning Division,
FCDOT
Seyed Nabavi - Project Manager and Liaison for I-95/395 Hot Lanes
Project
Aripita Chatterjee - FCDOT
Guy Mullinax - FCDOT
Maria Turner - FCDOT
Steve Knudsen-FCDOT
Nancy Carter-Foster - Fairfax County Resident
Lori Cohen - Fairfax County Resident
Cindy Wilson - Fairfax County Resident
Pat Mann - City of Alexandria Department of Planning and Zoning
Mollie Loeffler - Fairfax County Resident
Jason Ducre - City of Alexandria Resident
Ken Platek - Fairfax County Resident
Announcements - This task force is a joint task force of Alexandria and Fairfax County. Bill Pike has agreed to continue as the recording secretary for the meetings. Currently, there is a draft of the March 2011 minutes available to task force members and other participants at tonight’s meeting. The meeting minutes from the March 2011 will become part of the Web site after they have been approved.
The next meetings of interest to the assembled group are as noted
- 4/11/2011 Beauregard Corridor Development Group will meet at The Mark Center Hilton from 6:30 PM until 9:00 PM
- 4/27/2011 BRAC Advisory Group will meet from 7-9 PM at the Charles Beatley Jr. Central Library
There was a motion and a second to approve the Minutes of the March 1, 2011 Task Force Meeting as written. The motion passed unanimously.
Presentation of the Columbia Pike Transit Initiative done by Stephen
del Giudice and Leonard Wolfenstein
The initial project which has been in the pipeline for at least 10 years
focused on the initial phase of the project which includes streetcar
service from the Pentagon to Baileys Crossroads with a supplemental bus
network. This phase is in the environmental study stage according
to NEPA. The advantages of the project using street cars were
discussed as well as the differences in streetcars vs. subways; light
rail and heavy rail were explained to the group. The most current date
for completion of the initial phase of the project is 2014. Issues
including funding would need to be determined before expansion could
occur to have any impact on the traffic issues related to BRAC 133.
Presentation of David Grover on the Residential Permit Parking
District (RPPD) in Alexandria and Baseline Traffic Counts
The current programs in the City of Alexandria did not meet the need to
address the anticipated issues related to BRAC 133. The staff held
multiple outreach meetings to address options available to the
community. A new program has been developed creating a daytime
RPPD, which includes no new fees and is based on the current City of
Alexandria Parking Decal. In the program area, households will vote on
this program with each block of a street voting either to participate or
not participate. The daytime RPPD will be in effect from 8AM until
5PM Monday through Friday. The City of Alexandria hopes to implement this
in June 2011. This program is an example of thinking “outside the box” to
solve a problem.
Currently the City of Alexandria is performing 48 hour baseline traffic counts at 16 locations. The streets where traffic counts are being done by the City of Alexandria are:
- N. Morgan between Beauregard and N. Chambliss
- Taney between Van Dorn and Pegram
- Taney between Pegram and Jordan
- Richenbacher between Van Dorn and Pegram
- N. Jordan between Seminary and Taney
- N. Howard between Seminary and Jordan
- Janney’s Lane between Quaker and Yale
- Yale between Janney’s Lane and Trinity
- Trinity between Duke and Yale
- Fillmore between Seminary and Beauregard
- Fillmore between Seminary and Rosser
- Fillmore between Stevens and Lacy Blvd.
- Dawes between Seminary and Rosser
- N. Stevens Street
- N. Rosser Street
- Echols Ave.
This program will be completed using the same criteria before the current school year is finished. The same locations will have traffic counts repeated after BRAC 133 opens. Both the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County will have the baseline traffic counts done before the BRAC133 facility opens. Currently, the anticipated date to start the relocation of employees to BRAC 133 is August 9, 2011 with completion by the end of the year. There are ongoing discussions about changing/extending the deadlines to complete the move in process.
Presentation by Thomas Burke
VDOT is working on the NEPA document for the 1-95/395 HOT/HOV lanes. A
decision on what method, either Categorical Exclusion or Environmental
Assessment still needs to be made. The HOV ramp will empty out onto
Seminary Road not into the BRAC 133 complex. An analysis of this
project will need to include a decision on possible restrictions of use
during non-high occupancy timeframes. Traffic counts are currently being
done or pulled from previous counts for Van Dorn Street/ Beauregard
Street/ Route 236. An update will be provided at the next meeting.
Presentation by Seyed Nabavi
Supervisor Gross and Mr. Seyed Nabavi met with VDOT about the proposed
I-95/395 HOT/HOV lanes project on March 4, 2011. The key points of
this meeting included: 1. There would be no dumping of traffic onto
Edsall Road to create a cut through. 2. The ramp at Turkey Cock Run is
not wide enough. It does not connect to Edsall Road. Instead the traffic
would exit from the HOT lanes to the HOV lanes and then exit at Seminary
Road., 3. VDOT still has no engineering plan or design plan completed
in reference to this project. Noise and aesthetics of
this area with respect to the project were also discussed. VDOT was asked
to look at Beauregard Street/ North Chambliss Street and Beauregard
Street/ Little River Turnpike with respect to this project. VDOT at
this time has no plans for a Park & Ride near this project, which may
not be feasible if there is limited access.
Presentation by Steve Knudsen
The application and implementation process for a cut through restriction
is based on state policy and administered by the county in conjunction
with VDOT. The type of program under the Residential Traffic
Administration Program (RTAP) is governed by the classification of road,
the amount of traffic on that road in addition to other factors. The
handout titled, “FCDOT Residential Traffic Administration Program”
summarizes both the type of programs available, as well as the procedure
for approval and implementation. The handout titled, “Streets requested
for review Baseline count prior to Mark Center occupancy” contains the
list formulated at the March 2011 Task Force Meeting. The 11 streets for
traffic counts requested by the Task Force, which need to be completed
before the school spring term ends and the BRAC 133 facility at Mark
Center opens are:
- Lacy Boulevard between Columbia Pike and Lewis Lane
- Scoville Street between Seminary Road and Paul Street
- Magnolia Lane between Lacy Boulevard and Seminary Road
- Dawes Avenue between North Chambliss Street and North Stevens Street (Note: The portion of Dawes Avenue between North Stevens Street and North Rosser Street is in the City of Alexandria.)
- North Chambliss Street between Lincolnia Road and Kling Drive
- Summit Place between Hillcrest Place and Lincolnia Road
- Sano Street between Hillcrest Place and Lincolnia Road
- Arcadia Road between Bryce Road and Braddock Road
- Fairfax Pkwy between Parkhill Drive and Summit Place
- Landess Street between Braddock Road and Summit Place
- Hillcrest Place between Summit Place and Braddock Road
The county staff also had requested a list of streets for a parking study prior to the formation of the task force. In discussion about the revised list of traffic counts, it was determined that more information would be available on the traffic counts and the parking study, if the next meeting was scheduled for June 7, 2011 rather than May 5, 2011. The schedule of meetings for fall 2011 after a summer break would be decided at the June 2011 task force meeting.
The next meeting of the Mason District BRAC 133 Task Force will be at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7:00 PM on June 7, 2011.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.
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