Council Lifts Orchard Street Parking Ban, Approves Cottage Street Reconstruction

The town of Vienna will lift a parking ban on the north side of Orchard Street Northwest, a decision that will leave more parking for residents of the street, their guests and visitors to the nearby school, church and cemetery, supporters say.

Until now, signs on the road had banned street parking with the exception of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays, making it difficult for residents to host friends and family overnight, and for visitors to find overflow parking for events at  Louise Archer Elementary School, the First Baptist Church, Petersen Lane Park and Sons & Daughters cemetery.

The ban whose survey of homeowners in the area revealed that most residents found the 20-year ban outdated, and largely not observed.

Transportation Safety Commission Chairman Drew Meren told the Council on Monday that the commission believed lifting the ban on the north side of the street would be enough to accommodate the residents who need to use it.

"We can always reinstate it, if need be," Meren said.

The council also approved a Virginia Department of Transportation plan for  Cottage Street SW, .

The plan puts the reconstruction of a .3 mile section of the street on a six-month schedule. 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 constructed by VDOT, and maintained by the Town of Vienna.

Residents spoke out against an option that would have allowed one-way traffic, but would last up to a year.

Instead the project will take six months and close the road to all through traffic, with the exception of local residents.Traffic would be detoured out to Park Street -- a change made after residents of the road told officials that the original VDOT plan to detour cars through neighborhood streets would create too much backup.

Other highlights from Monday's meeting include:

• Awarding of a $599,455 contract for asphalt milling, overlay and traffic marking to Virginia Paving of Sterling, Virginia, for  July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012, contingent on approval of the FY 2012 budget
• Awarding of a $27,359 water main repair contract to E.E. Lyons Construction Company Inc. for water main replacement on Lochness Court, which suffered severe damage after a water break in January. The council also awarded a $22,693 repaving contract to Espina Paving Inc. for the area.
• Awarding of a $171,070 contract to   E.E. Lyons Construction Company to replace five water mains on Saint Roman Drive
• Awarding of a $13,200 contract to the town's engineering firm, Wiley|Wilson, for "additional architectural and engineering design services related to the replacement of the boiler, chiller and cooling tower"