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Community Corner

Response to Mr. Krall's Alexandria Times, 3/6/14, Moving Along Article

Letter to the Editor: 

I would like to respond and correct Mr. Krall’s Moving Along article dated March 6th, 2014.

The proposed bike lanes along King Street were not delayed by the February 24th meeting of the Transportation and Parking Board. The Board voted 5-2 to reject the Director of Transportation and Environmental Services plan. The Board rejected the plan for safety reasons alone.

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The Board was tasked with making a recommendation to either uphold the Directors decision, to reverse it or to modify it, as instructed by Deputy City Attorney Chris Spera, then the matter would go before the City Council.

The proposed bike lanes do not go from Russell Road to anywhere. It is very important to note that the proposed bike lanes begin and end at W. Cedar Street. This is about 1 block from the intersection of King St., Russell Road and Callahan Drive, where the road is at its most narrow point, and at least ¼ mile from the King St. Metro. The proposed bike lanes traverse only about three blocks and end well before Janneys Lane.

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The proposal is adding parking on Park Road, which has not been approved by fire and emergency personnel. Residents had parking spaces in this location in the past and the spaces were removed by the city due to the turning radius of emergency vehicles, trash and recycling trucks. I’m not sure how parking can be added or replaced. This was evident a few weeks ago when there was a house fire on Park Road and emergency vehicles had a difficult time navigating Park Road even without people parking in the proposed additional spaces, and had to back down the road.

Just because someone may have off street parking doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have or be able to use on-street parking. If that were the case then the city could take away most of Del Ray and Rosemont residents on- street parking.

Most, if not all, of the homes in these older, established, neighborhoods have a driveway, a parking pad, or other means for off street parking, Does every resident use them? No, because it doesn’t work with todays vehicle sizes, the driveways were built so long ago that they just can’t be used, it isn’t practical, and maybe even because they fill their parking pad/space with a shed, a garden, a children’s play house, a model train set, and so on.

People have purchased their homes with the knowledge that they have and would continue to have on-street parking. Does the city have the right to say that all those residents cannot park on a city street? And that the city will use that parking anyway it chooses, no matter what residents say or without care for what it would do to the value of their home?

Mr. Krall states that several of the residents have testified that they avoid parking along King Street because of aggressive drivers. I believe residents have stated that the road is too narrow and their cars have been sideswiped and mirrors have been taken off by passing vehicles, buses and trucks, not aggressive drivers.

In the case of King Street residents, the city is taking away safe on-street parking and giving those residents no safe alternative to access their homes. A parking space more than a block away, across busy King Street with no crosswalk or a space on a side street without a sidewalk isn’t acceptable.

Mr. Krall states that there have been over ten (10) public hearings on this matter. This just isn’t true. There have been two (2) public meetings, both held at Matthew Maury Elementary School, one of which had to be cut short due to a power outage at the school. And there have been two (2) Transportation and Parking Board Public hearings.
Presentation of information to the Taylor Run Citizens Association Executive Committee cannot be and should not be counted as a public hearing, public outreach or even a collaborative meeting.

Mr. Krall asks “Can modern street design slow down traffic?” Modern street design on a road that Mr. Baier, Director of the City of Alexandria Transportation and Environmental Services, described as “a constrained corridor, where adjacent usage is already in place. We are not building something new with multiple connections”
This isn’t modern design, this is shoving or trying to shoe horn something into a “constrained” space. This isn’t acceptable.

Mr. Durham, chairman of the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, spoke before the board that there are no other “viable options” than King Street bike lanes. This just isn’t the case. There are several viable options for cyclists, many of which have been presented to City staff and to the Transportation and Parking Board. They include the use of neighborhood streets such as Putnam Place, Highland, Walnut, and Upland, as well as the use of the Masonic Memorial trail.

It took the Taylor Run Citizens Association to find compromise as the Transportation and Parking Board asked city staff to do, after its November meeting. The Taylor Run Citizens were able to have discussions with the Masons (Masonic Temple) and they found a way to make the bike route through the Temple grounds safer and more accessible.

Transportation and Parking Board Chairman, Jay Johnson made the point that the Masonic Temple is already a City of Alexandria designated bike route. A fact that neither Mr. Baier, nor anyone on his staff, recognized and still did not recognize when asked specifically about it by Mr. Johnson.
How did the city staff not know this or present this information during their presentations to the board?

At the end of the meeting it grew tense among the members of the board, with board member Mr. Posey almost shouting to the other board members that council was “waiting for their decision”.
This proposal was going to the city council for their vote, whether the board voted on it or not.

So, now, the proposal will go before the City Council on March 15th.

Kellie Meehan

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