Community Concerns About Current and Anticipated Traffic on Braddock Road in Alexandria, Virginia
Prepared by J. Glenn Eugster
March 1, 2011
Request for Assistance
Feb 8, 2011
Dear Deputy Chief Aden and Rich Baier,
I've been approached by neighbors about their continuing concerns about speeding, traffic safety and congestion along Braddock Road, between the intersection with Early Street and Marlboro Place, and Van Dorn Street and Menokin Street intersection. Some of the neighbors have suggested that we start a petition asking the City for help. The residents are concerned that the projected traffic increases from BRAC and future development projects in our area will make a difficult situation far worse.
At the present time people using these roads and intersections are speeding; driving agressively; blocking local access to intersections; and creating an unsafe environment for auto travel during peak travel periods. Given the overall lack of preparation for managing the impact of the BRAC Project many of us feel that we to take action now so that when the military facility opens in September we will have anticipated the additional problems that are expected.
Any suggestions you have for how we might get help to address current and anticipated problems in these areas would be greatly appreciated. I've exchanged correspondence with Nancy Jennings of the Seminary Hill Association, Inc. and we expect to briefly discuss this at our meeting this Thursday. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you
Sincerely,
J. Glenn Eugster
Seminary Hill Association & City of Alexandria, VA. Replies
Great...folks with concerns can work with TES and call SHA in as the heavy when/if needed...nan
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Nancy Jennings
President, Seminary Hill Association, Inc.
Hi Glenn, I have been in meetings all day-do you have time for a call this afternoon?
As always, you know the Alexandria Police Department is committed to working with you toward making this situation better.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
Patrol Operations Bureau
Alexandria Police Department
Mobile: 571-221-8503
Office: 703-838-6360 ext 1274
2-10-2011 Telephone conversation
We will do enforcement at peak hours. We will look at street design to see if there is something else we can do. Tim Dickenson is the officer for this area and he will follow-up.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
2-10-2011 Seminary Hill Association Board Meeting
We are using place-based policing. Speeding on Braddock will be addressed with heavy enforcement using traffic trailers.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
G....The only real option that I can offer at this time would be to coordinate with Police for placement of the speed notification trailers and perhaps police can perform some spot enforcement. Van Dorn is an arterial and Braddock is a major collector so neither of these roads would have been included in any physical alterations such as traffic calming. The Traffic Calming Program itself was eliminated due to budget cuts in 2008 as well as the staff support position as well. Seminary Hill as an association has just supported Clover College Park as they have reported speeding issues on Trinity Drive. Our efforts there are relating largely to data collection as there are no dollars for other measures.
Rich Baier, Director
Department of Transportation & Environmental Services
Glenn. Enforcement as I discussed with the Dep Chf is the way to proceed as we would not support an unwarranted signal. I do not have any other tricks up the sleeve.
Rich Baier, Director
Department of Transportation & Environmental Services
Request for Community Input
Dear Neighbors,
Good day! I hope this note finds you well.
I am this area's representative on the Seminary Hill Association, Inc. Recently three of our neighbors raised concerns about traffic. Specifically people told me that the rush hour traffic at the intersection of Marlboro Place and Braddock Road was difficult, often dangerous and of concern to them. I also heard that the intersection of Menokin and Van Dorn was difficult for residents to use and often hostile. Our neighbors went on to say that they feared the worst given the City's approval of the BRAC Building, which will bring thousands of new commuters to the area. The BRAC traffic will appear in September and our neighbors are concerned that a bad situation will become worse.
I'm writing to you to ask you how you feel about the traffic access: 1) to and from Marlboro Estates and 2) access to King Street and I-395 via Menokin and Van Dorn. Please let me know how you feel so that we can see if this problem warrants discussion with elected officials.
Glenn Eugster
Community Replies
Thanks for your inquiry about traffic concerns. I would like to echo my wife's concerns about the very real safety problem at the intersection of Marlboro Estates and Braddock Road, especially during rush hour in the morning. It seems to me to be inevitable that someone in Marlboro Estates is going to get seriously hurt--or killed--in turning left onto Braddock. I would like to know what criteria are used by the City to determine whether an intersection is eligible for a traffic light. If one could be installed, it should be set to work as a regular light from 7 to 9 A.M. and put on a blinking yellow after that.
In my experience, traffic is so dense and moving so rapidly in the morning that it is difficult to turn left onto Braddock safely. Waiting for a safe chance to turn can take several minutes while a hundred or more cars come whipping by from both directions. Turning itself is almost never an easy proposition. I am usually "tucking my tail between my legs" to wedge my way into traffic. There have been a few times that I got so tired of waiting at the intersection to turn left that I have turned right and gone all the way around via Howard Street, Seminary Road, and Quaker Lane to come back to Braddock.
The closest I have come to a serious accident in 40-plus years of driving has been at this intersection when I was taking my children to school in the morning. Coming from my right, a fast-moving car was hidden by a slow-moving bus. I pulled out in plenty of time to be in front of the bus, but the other car, which was doing at least 50 MPH to beat the bus, veered in front of it and then tried to turn directly in front of me into Marlboro Estates. I slammed on the brakes while the other car went squealing by only inches in front of me. If I had not hit the brakes, the car would have plowed directly into my daughter on the passenger side and severely injured or killed her.
The problem of getting through this intersection safely, especially in the morning, is so great that there is no way my wife and I will let our children drive to school. This has frustrated us because we would like for them to do so, but under present circumstances it would be way too dangerous.
Sincerely,
Dennis Carroll
Has there been any consideration of putting a traffic light at Braddock and Marlboro? It is quite difficult, and at times dangerous, to turn left out of Marlboro Estates during rush hour. Putting a traffic light there would make that left turn safer and also help to slow down the traffic that speeds by Minnie Howard daily. As it is now, in order to slow down that traffic, the Police Department has to post officers just below Minnie Howard at least once a week at the beginning and end of the school day. Maybe the traffic light could work during rush hours (7-9 AM and 3-6 PM, or something similar) and then blink yellow on Braddock and red on Marlboro at other times. What do you think, Police Chief Cook?
Lynn Carroll
4018 Ellicott St.
We do have a concern regarding access from Marlboro and agree with what Steve D wrote to you. I find the menokin and van dorn tough but doable.
Thanks for working this issue,
Bob Cavanaugh
President
Better Decisions
Concerned? Yes indeed. Thanks for taking this on.
Getting onto eastbound W. Braddock Rd is certainly tough enough, and risky, especially in the morning.
Speeders make it even tougher and riskier. The speed board set up a few years ago near the seemed to help. Maybe bring back the speed board and/or push for increased speed limit enforcement.
At Menokin and Van Dorn (headed toward King St.), you're pretty much at the mercy of rush hour traffic there; occasionally a kind soul will let you in. That's a short green light. Maybe an extra 5-10 seconds (green) in the morning hours would help traffic get thru the King Street intersection. The Menokin / Van Dorn intersection has a sign posted saying "Do Not Block Intersection" which is largely disregarded. Alexandria PD needs to enforce this.
Finally, drivers just need to slow down along the neighborhood streets. Being on "the bend" at Ellicott, our visibility is pretty good, so we can see traffic coming and going. But if trash and recycling cans are out and cars are parked on the curbs, kids and grownups may not see or hear approaching vehicles until it's too late. Slowing down will give drivers and pedestrians more time to react. I believe Teresa Buchanan led a movement to see if we could get a "Slow. Children Playing" sign or two up but never heard more about it before she and Tom moved. Does anyone remember the outcome of that effort? But please, no more speed bumps!
Steve Doulis
Thanks for all you do!
I echo the comments about being very concerned about the BRAC traffic and what I fear will be an inability to get out of the neighborhood and similarly have an issue with getting onto 395. If the city is willing to look, some stop sign/light/or yield on Van Dorn so Menokin can go straight would be VERY helpful!
JonHrobsky
I really appreciate you taking the lead on this. I know we don’t weigh-in on most issues – but this is something that impacts us.
1 – Agreed – pulling out from Marlboro at rush hour can be risky. We have to wait a long time to turn. It is particularly bad when we’ve had bad weather and there is snow on the roads/snow melt making conditions harder to navigate. I have slipped many times trying to quickly get into the left land to turn on Early.
2 – More of an issue is the Van Dorn – Menokin intersection. One big piece is that folks coming off of Van Dorn often block the intersection making folks on Menokin more aggressive in trying to push their way through. Folks on Van Dorn I would say are either – helpful at letting us through or outright mean. I have had a few honking matches! But frankly this intersection has been bad for the past 5 years I have lived in the neighborhood.
Many thanks,
Ida Kelley
2116 Marlboro Dr
Many thanks for your E-mail concerning traffic patterns. I have sent the info on to my neighbors on Braddock Ct. Our small court of 9 homes have not had problems with entering Braddock Rd. so you might not hear from them until BRAC is opened! You can only leave the court through a right hand turn on to Braddock Rd. which makes it so much easier although neighbors (including me) love to take a U turn just in front of the school. I believe that once BRAC is open even taking a right hand turn and making a U will cause significant problems for Braddock Ct. We'll see.
You might want to check with ST.S/ST.A middle school. When traffic increases, I believe that the school will be impacted esp. with the 8: A.M. drop off pattern that has been established.
Pat Lidy
Thanks for your efforts. Yes, we are concerned. We would like to see a traffic light at Marlboro and Braddock. Traffic there is bad now but as you say, it will get worse. We believe a stop sign on Van Dorn where it intersects with Menokin would help the situation there which is bad. They could keep the stop sign on Menokin so both traffics would have to stop.
Regarding your previous letter on Fort Ward, to whom do we write?
Graydon and Jackie Lose
Time to put in a Stop Sign or Flashing Red Light for Van Dorn Traffic at the T- Intersection of Van Dorn and Menokin Streets.
This T-Intersection should be listed in the Guinness Book of Word Records given its current, confusing and dangerous configuration....
R/Geoff Lyon
Menokin and Van Dorn is a terrible intersection by design. It needs a more appropriate form of traffic control. The stop sign is counter-intuitive coming from King (I see people run it regularly because of the look of the intersection) and drivers are forced to clog the intersection simply to get through, as Van Dorn traffic will not generally allow Menokin traffic to get in. The intersection should have a traffic light coordinated with the King street intersection which will allow some real flow of traffic from Menokin.
As to the neighborhood, I doubt you should push that issue. I don’t want traffic lights on every neighborhood opening around here. If it’s too hard to turn left, then go right and get there another way. But it’s usually only an issue in the morning, anyhow. The other 22 hours of the day it’s not a problem.
Hope this helps.
Jay Moore
We are very concerned about the morning traffic flow now and what will happen this fall. Right now it can take up to 5 minutes to turn left onto Braddock Road in the morning and some mornings you have to go half way out to the median just to be able to complete the turn because the traffic patterns do not match up between the two directions. We are anticipating having to turn right and then making a u-turn at the N. Howard light, when the traffic volume increases.
The change in the start time at Minnie Howard has made a huge improvement in the am traffic flow and I hope that the start time will remain later next year.
I can only imagine how bad the traffic will be on Menokin and N. Early if commuters try and use that exit instead of Seminary Road to get to the BRAC building. The Van Dorn right of way to Menokin can be troublesome at times, but they have a much higher volume of traffic and
I am not sure that putting in a light or 4 way stop sign would help. I would think that it would result in a greater volume of cars coming down N. Early to Menokin which is not a favorable outcome.
Thank goodness our neighborhood was designed without a cut through or our lives would be miserable!
Thanks for collecting this information.
Donna O’Connell
I share concerns with current and potential increases in traffic when the BRAC facility opens. For years, I have been concerned with the intersection of Menokin and Van Dorn, principally because the lack of a stop sign for Van Dorn traffic turning onto Menokin (a) defies logic, (b) often generates turns at excessive speeds, and (c) allows Van Dorn traffic to block Menokin. This pattern is particularly dangerous when there is a mix of traffic of those familiar with the intersection (speeding around the turn) and those unfamiliar with the traffic who stop on Van Dorn, uncertain of how to proceed. I recommend that the city post a stop sign on Van Dorn, maintain the stop sign on Menokin, and post signs to prohibit “blocking the box,” followed by ramped up enforcement.
With respect to our neighborhood’s access to Braddock, I feel that current access is adequate even though it requires tremendous patience at some times. However, once BRAC is open, Braddock may turn into a major speedway. Currently, autos and buses on Braddock violate the posted speed limits, which is very troubling with the presence of Minnie Howard, TC Williams, and Episcopal High School students. An increase in volume and speeds may pose significant risk to our students.
It is my understanding the DoD does not charge for parking at its bases and facilities. If this is correct, there will be a real incentive for workers to drive to the Mark Center facility. I also feel that increasing DASH bus service to the King Street Metro is a very bad idea. King Street is one lane in each direction through a very residential area as one approaches the King Street Metro/Amtrak/VRE facility. King Street is a major bottleneck and currently suffers significant backups in the evening as one heads toward Old Town from the Seminary Hills area. Workers will find the time associated with this trip unacceptable and will shift from transit to auto travel. DoD would be better served by establishing bus service from Mark Center to the Pentagon, along the 4 lane 395, against the flow of traffic. I would recommend that Alexandria’s traffic engineers actually test-run this route during the evening commute to see if the duration of such a trip is realistic in terms of inducing workers to take transit.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Jeanne O’Leary
I agree the traffic at our intersection of Braddock and Marlboro is heavy at 8 a.m. I really don't like it when cars make U-Turns at our intersection after dropping kids off at Minnie Howard causing difficulties for us to turn left onto Braddock. The speed of the cars both ways on Braddock is also a concern. In the afternoon, cops usually catch cars speeding down the hill towards Bradlee but that doesn't help the upper leg of Braddock by us in the morning.
I find the Van Dorn-Menokin intersection difficult as well, so avoid it when I can.
Thanks!
Cecile Phillips
I think we will feel impact of the new facility during morning and afternoon rush hour. Given the shortcut nature of Menokin combined with on street parking on the street I fear all will experience difficulties. My hunch is those of us using the roads in the local area will find it necessary to “go with the flow” in the AM by turning right towards Van Dorn and using the stop light on Braddock by Bradley Shopping Center at night to get onto Braddock.
My opinion is that the town officials have known for two years this entire project was going to be a game changer for our corner of Alexandria and have done nothing to mitigate the realities of 6000 employees transiting through the Seminary /West Braddock Road Corridor. By the way this includes Jim Moran .Given the lack of meaningful action from all involved I doubt anything significant will transpire in the future. Let’s say I will be shocked. You can quote me if you think it appropriate to do so.
Gordon Sullivan -4013 Ellicott.
Prepared by J. Glenn Eugster
March 1, 2011
Request for Assistance
Feb 8, 2011
Dear Deputy Chief Aden and Rich Baier,
I've been approached by neighbors about their continuing concerns about speeding, traffic safety and congestion along Braddock Road, between the intersection with Early Street and Marlboro Place, and Van Dorn Street and Menokin Street intersection. Some of the neighbors have suggested that we start a petition asking the City for help. The residents are concerned that the projected traffic increases from BRAC and future development projects in our area will make a difficult situation far worse.
At the present time people using these roads and intersections are speeding; driving agressively; blocking local access to intersections; and creating an unsafe environment for auto travel during peak travel periods. Given the overall lack of preparation for managing the impact of the BRAC Project many of us feel that we to take action now so that when the military facility opens in September we will have anticipated the additional problems that are expected.
Any suggestions you have for how we might get help to address current and anticipated problems in these areas would be greatly appreciated. I've exchanged correspondence with Nancy Jennings of the Seminary Hill Association, Inc. and we expect to briefly discuss this at our meeting this Thursday. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you
Sincerely,
J. Glenn Eugster
Seminary Hill Association & City of Alexandria, VA. Replies
Great...folks with concerns can work with TES and call SHA in as the heavy when/if needed...nan
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Nancy Jennings
President, Seminary Hill Association, Inc.
Hi Glenn, I have been in meetings all day-do you have time for a call this afternoon?
As always, you know the Alexandria Police Department is committed to working with you toward making this situation better.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
Patrol Operations Bureau
Alexandria Police Department
Mobile: 571-221-8503
Office: 703-838-6360 ext 1274
2-10-2011 Telephone conversation
We will do enforcement at peak hours. We will look at street design to see if there is something else we can do. Tim Dickenson is the officer for this area and he will follow-up.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
2-10-2011 Seminary Hill Association Board Meeting
We are using place-based policing. Speeding on Braddock will be addressed with heavy enforcement using traffic trailers.
Hassan Aden
Deputy Chief of Police
G....The only real option that I can offer at this time would be to coordinate with Police for placement of the speed notification trailers and perhaps police can perform some spot enforcement. Van Dorn is an arterial and Braddock is a major collector so neither of these roads would have been included in any physical alterations such as traffic calming. The Traffic Calming Program itself was eliminated due to budget cuts in 2008 as well as the staff support position as well. Seminary Hill as an association has just supported Clover College Park as they have reported speeding issues on Trinity Drive. Our efforts there are relating largely to data collection as there are no dollars for other measures.
Rich Baier, Director
Department of Transportation & Environmental Services
Glenn. Enforcement as I discussed with the Dep Chf is the way to proceed as we would not support an unwarranted signal. I do not have any other tricks up the sleeve.
Rich Baier, Director
Department of Transportation & Environmental Services
Request for Community Input
Dear Neighbors,
Good day! I hope this note finds you well.
I am this area's representative on the Seminary Hill Association, Inc. Recently three of our neighbors raised concerns about traffic. Specifically people told me that the rush hour traffic at the intersection of Marlboro Place and Braddock Road was difficult, often dangerous and of concern to them. I also heard that the intersection of Menokin and Van Dorn was difficult for residents to use and often hostile. Our neighbors went on to say that they feared the worst given the City's approval of the BRAC Building, which will bring thousands of new commuters to the area. The BRAC traffic will appear in September and our neighbors are concerned that a bad situation will become worse.
I'm writing to you to ask you how you feel about the traffic access: 1) to and from Marlboro Estates and 2) access to King Street and I-395 via Menokin and Van Dorn. Please let me know how you feel so that we can see if this problem warrants discussion with elected officials.
Glenn Eugster
Community Replies
Thanks for your inquiry about traffic concerns. I would like to echo my wife's concerns about the very real safety problem at the intersection of Marlboro Estates and Braddock Road, especially during rush hour in the morning. It seems to me to be inevitable that someone in Marlboro Estates is going to get seriously hurt--or killed--in turning left onto Braddock. I would like to know what criteria are used by the City to determine whether an intersection is eligible for a traffic light. If one could be installed, it should be set to work as a regular light from 7 to 9 A.M. and put on a blinking yellow after that.
In my experience, traffic is so dense and moving so rapidly in the morning that it is difficult to turn left onto Braddock safely. Waiting for a safe chance to turn can take several minutes while a hundred or more cars come whipping by from both directions. Turning itself is almost never an easy proposition. I am usually "tucking my tail between my legs" to wedge my way into traffic. There have been a few times that I got so tired of waiting at the intersection to turn left that I have turned right and gone all the way around via Howard Street, Seminary Road, and Quaker Lane to come back to Braddock.
The closest I have come to a serious accident in 40-plus years of driving has been at this intersection when I was taking my children to school in the morning. Coming from my right, a fast-moving car was hidden by a slow-moving bus. I pulled out in plenty of time to be in front of the bus, but the other car, which was doing at least 50 MPH to beat the bus, veered in front of it and then tried to turn directly in front of me into Marlboro Estates. I slammed on the brakes while the other car went squealing by only inches in front of me. If I had not hit the brakes, the car would have plowed directly into my daughter on the passenger side and severely injured or killed her.
The problem of getting through this intersection safely, especially in the morning, is so great that there is no way my wife and I will let our children drive to school. This has frustrated us because we would like for them to do so, but under present circumstances it would be way too dangerous.
Sincerely,
Dennis Carroll
Has there been any consideration of putting a traffic light at Braddock and Marlboro? It is quite difficult, and at times dangerous, to turn left out of Marlboro Estates during rush hour. Putting a traffic light there would make that left turn safer and also help to slow down the traffic that speeds by Minnie Howard daily. As it is now, in order to slow down that traffic, the Police Department has to post officers just below Minnie Howard at least once a week at the beginning and end of the school day. Maybe the traffic light could work during rush hours (7-9 AM and 3-6 PM, or something similar) and then blink yellow on Braddock and red on Marlboro at other times. What do you think, Police Chief Cook?
Lynn Carroll
4018 Ellicott St.
We do have a concern regarding access from Marlboro and agree with what Steve D wrote to you. I find the menokin and van dorn tough but doable.
Thanks for working this issue,
Bob Cavanaugh
President
Better Decisions
Concerned? Yes indeed. Thanks for taking this on.
Getting onto eastbound W. Braddock Rd is certainly tough enough, and risky, especially in the morning.
Speeders make it even tougher and riskier. The speed board set up a few years ago near the seemed to help. Maybe bring back the speed board and/or push for increased speed limit enforcement.
At Menokin and Van Dorn (headed toward King St.), you're pretty much at the mercy of rush hour traffic there; occasionally a kind soul will let you in. That's a short green light. Maybe an extra 5-10 seconds (green) in the morning hours would help traffic get thru the King Street intersection. The Menokin / Van Dorn intersection has a sign posted saying "Do Not Block Intersection" which is largely disregarded. Alexandria PD needs to enforce this.
Finally, drivers just need to slow down along the neighborhood streets. Being on "the bend" at Ellicott, our visibility is pretty good, so we can see traffic coming and going. But if trash and recycling cans are out and cars are parked on the curbs, kids and grownups may not see or hear approaching vehicles until it's too late. Slowing down will give drivers and pedestrians more time to react. I believe Teresa Buchanan led a movement to see if we could get a "Slow. Children Playing" sign or two up but never heard more about it before she and Tom moved. Does anyone remember the outcome of that effort? But please, no more speed bumps!
Steve Doulis
Thanks for all you do!
I echo the comments about being very concerned about the BRAC traffic and what I fear will be an inability to get out of the neighborhood and similarly have an issue with getting onto 395. If the city is willing to look, some stop sign/light/or yield on Van Dorn so Menokin can go straight would be VERY helpful!
JonHrobsky
I really appreciate you taking the lead on this. I know we don’t weigh-in on most issues – but this is something that impacts us.
1 – Agreed – pulling out from Marlboro at rush hour can be risky. We have to wait a long time to turn. It is particularly bad when we’ve had bad weather and there is snow on the roads/snow melt making conditions harder to navigate. I have slipped many times trying to quickly get into the left land to turn on Early.
2 – More of an issue is the Van Dorn – Menokin intersection. One big piece is that folks coming off of Van Dorn often block the intersection making folks on Menokin more aggressive in trying to push their way through. Folks on Van Dorn I would say are either – helpful at letting us through or outright mean. I have had a few honking matches! But frankly this intersection has been bad for the past 5 years I have lived in the neighborhood.
Many thanks,
Ida Kelley
2116 Marlboro Dr
Many thanks for your E-mail concerning traffic patterns. I have sent the info on to my neighbors on Braddock Ct. Our small court of 9 homes have not had problems with entering Braddock Rd. so you might not hear from them until BRAC is opened! You can only leave the court through a right hand turn on to Braddock Rd. which makes it so much easier although neighbors (including me) love to take a U turn just in front of the school. I believe that once BRAC is open even taking a right hand turn and making a U will cause significant problems for Braddock Ct. We'll see.
You might want to check with ST.S/ST.A middle school. When traffic increases, I believe that the school will be impacted esp. with the 8: A.M. drop off pattern that has been established.
Pat Lidy
Thanks for your efforts. Yes, we are concerned. We would like to see a traffic light at Marlboro and Braddock. Traffic there is bad now but as you say, it will get worse. We believe a stop sign on Van Dorn where it intersects with Menokin would help the situation there which is bad. They could keep the stop sign on Menokin so both traffics would have to stop.
Regarding your previous letter on Fort Ward, to whom do we write?
Graydon and Jackie Lose
Time to put in a Stop Sign or Flashing Red Light for Van Dorn Traffic at the T- Intersection of Van Dorn and Menokin Streets.
This T-Intersection should be listed in the Guinness Book of Word Records given its current, confusing and dangerous configuration....
R/Geoff Lyon
Menokin and Van Dorn is a terrible intersection by design. It needs a more appropriate form of traffic control. The stop sign is counter-intuitive coming from King (I see people run it regularly because of the look of the intersection) and drivers are forced to clog the intersection simply to get through, as Van Dorn traffic will not generally allow Menokin traffic to get in. The intersection should have a traffic light coordinated with the King street intersection which will allow some real flow of traffic from Menokin.
As to the neighborhood, I doubt you should push that issue. I don’t want traffic lights on every neighborhood opening around here. If it’s too hard to turn left, then go right and get there another way. But it’s usually only an issue in the morning, anyhow. The other 22 hours of the day it’s not a problem.
Hope this helps.
Jay Moore
We are very concerned about the morning traffic flow now and what will happen this fall. Right now it can take up to 5 minutes to turn left onto Braddock Road in the morning and some mornings you have to go half way out to the median just to be able to complete the turn because the traffic patterns do not match up between the two directions. We are anticipating having to turn right and then making a u-turn at the N. Howard light, when the traffic volume increases.
The change in the start time at Minnie Howard has made a huge improvement in the am traffic flow and I hope that the start time will remain later next year.
I can only imagine how bad the traffic will be on Menokin and N. Early if commuters try and use that exit instead of Seminary Road to get to the BRAC building. The Van Dorn right of way to Menokin can be troublesome at times, but they have a much higher volume of traffic and
I am not sure that putting in a light or 4 way stop sign would help. I would think that it would result in a greater volume of cars coming down N. Early to Menokin which is not a favorable outcome.
Thank goodness our neighborhood was designed without a cut through or our lives would be miserable!
Thanks for collecting this information.
Donna O’Connell
I share concerns with current and potential increases in traffic when the BRAC facility opens. For years, I have been concerned with the intersection of Menokin and Van Dorn, principally because the lack of a stop sign for Van Dorn traffic turning onto Menokin (a) defies logic, (b) often generates turns at excessive speeds, and (c) allows Van Dorn traffic to block Menokin. This pattern is particularly dangerous when there is a mix of traffic of those familiar with the intersection (speeding around the turn) and those unfamiliar with the traffic who stop on Van Dorn, uncertain of how to proceed. I recommend that the city post a stop sign on Van Dorn, maintain the stop sign on Menokin, and post signs to prohibit “blocking the box,” followed by ramped up enforcement.
With respect to our neighborhood’s access to Braddock, I feel that current access is adequate even though it requires tremendous patience at some times. However, once BRAC is open, Braddock may turn into a major speedway. Currently, autos and buses on Braddock violate the posted speed limits, which is very troubling with the presence of Minnie Howard, TC Williams, and Episcopal High School students. An increase in volume and speeds may pose significant risk to our students.
It is my understanding the DoD does not charge for parking at its bases and facilities. If this is correct, there will be a real incentive for workers to drive to the Mark Center facility. I also feel that increasing DASH bus service to the King Street Metro is a very bad idea. King Street is one lane in each direction through a very residential area as one approaches the King Street Metro/Amtrak/VRE facility. King Street is a major bottleneck and currently suffers significant backups in the evening as one heads toward Old Town from the Seminary Hills area. Workers will find the time associated with this trip unacceptable and will shift from transit to auto travel. DoD would be better served by establishing bus service from Mark Center to the Pentagon, along the 4 lane 395, against the flow of traffic. I would recommend that Alexandria’s traffic engineers actually test-run this route during the evening commute to see if the duration of such a trip is realistic in terms of inducing workers to take transit.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
Jeanne O’Leary
I agree the traffic at our intersection of Braddock and Marlboro is heavy at 8 a.m. I really don't like it when cars make U-Turns at our intersection after dropping kids off at Minnie Howard causing difficulties for us to turn left onto Braddock. The speed of the cars both ways on Braddock is also a concern. In the afternoon, cops usually catch cars speeding down the hill towards Bradlee but that doesn't help the upper leg of Braddock by us in the morning.
I find the Van Dorn-Menokin intersection difficult as well, so avoid it when I can.
Thanks!
Cecile Phillips
I think we will feel impact of the new facility during morning and afternoon rush hour. Given the shortcut nature of Menokin combined with on street parking on the street I fear all will experience difficulties. My hunch is those of us using the roads in the local area will find it necessary to “go with the flow” in the AM by turning right towards Van Dorn and using the stop light on Braddock by Bradley Shopping Center at night to get onto Braddock.
My opinion is that the town officials have known for two years this entire project was going to be a game changer for our corner of Alexandria and have done nothing to mitigate the realities of 6000 employees transiting through the Seminary /West Braddock Road Corridor. By the way this includes Jim Moran .Given the lack of meaningful action from all involved I doubt anything significant will transpire in the future. Let’s say I will be shocked. You can quote me if you think it appropriate to do so.
Gordon Sullivan -4013 Ellicott.
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