VDOT Seeks Public Input For Cottage Street Reconstruction

The reconstruction of a .3 mile section of Cottage Street could take less than six months, or as long as a year, depending on the input the Virginia Department of Transportation receives from Vienna residents this week.

The $2.5 million project will reconstruct pavement and replace curbs and gutters  on Cottage Street between Patrick and Walker Streets Southwest. Sidewalks will also be replaced and expanded from their current width of four feet to the new five-foot VDOT standard. Construction would begin in July 2012.

The project will be designed and constructed by VDOT, and maintained by the Town of Vienna.

How long it will take to complete the project depends on how much of the road is closed during construction,  VDOT Project Manager Zamir Mirza said at the meeting. VDOT will use resident input --collected through April 16 -- to decide between two construction plans before it makes a recommendation to the Town in May.

One option is to close that portion of Cottage Street completely, allowing crews and contractors to complete work more quickly, Mirza said. Traffic would be detoured from Kingsley Road, to Desale Street, to Cedar Lane in both directions, according to preliminary plans. Residents would still have access to their homes. With that option, the project could begin in July 2012 and would be completed before Christmas of that year, Mirza said.

The second option would close one lane at a time, extending the project length to a year but maintaining some of the street's current traffic patterns -- including the route of the 2T bus that brings commuters to the Vienna metro. Phase one would make the road a one-way street toward Kingsley Road; phase two would make the road a one-way street toward Cedar Lane.

"If we have to maintain one lane of through traffic then that’s going to double the time it will take to build it," Mizra said.

Mike and Jenn Mothes, who live on Cottage Street, said they preferred total closure of the road. Mike said he attributed to the fact that it was also closed completely, he said.

"With a complete closure, the efficiency is much higher," he said.

They also said they look forward to the wider sidewalks.

"We've had pedestrians who have had to jump out of the way of our stroller," Mothes said.

Some residents in the audience worried about how a total closure would affect commuters -- both those on bike and on the 2T Metro bus. The road would not be safe for bicyclists during construction, Mizra said.

But even a year is not long to wait, some residents said, when compared to the more than 15 years that these repairs on Cottage Street have been in the making.

The project was first requested through a Town of Vienna resolution in 1995, which would have included reconstruction of the entire street from Moore Avenue to Cedar Lane. But funding constraints prevented that project from coming to fruition.

In 2009, the Town asked VDOT to design a reconstruction project for the most deteriorated parts of Cottage Street, between Walker Street and Cedar Lane. When VDOT could not find enough funding for that project, it was reduced again to the current project length of 1,717 feet. As more funding emerges, more of the road will be constructed, VDOT officials said.

VDOT will compile resident feedback and make a recommendation to the Town Council in May. Town Council will hold a public hearing about the project in June before giving final approval to the plans.

VDOT will accept comments until April 16. Residents can e-mail feedback to Meeting_Comments@VDOT.Virginia.gov. , with "Cottage Street Reconstruction" in the subject line, or mail them to Zamir Mirza at VDOT Northern Virginia, Project Manager, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030.