Politics & Government

Pedestrian Projects Move Forward Despite Some Resistance

Residents call some sidewalk initiatives inefficient, unnecessary

Adding to Vienna's pedestrian network has become among the top town priorities for many residents in recent years. But finding agreement on the placement of those sidewalks, some council members noted Monday night, is proving to be a more difficult task.

Five sidewalk or crosswalk projects were set in motion by the Vienna Town Council at their Monday meeting, two of them drawing objections from nearby residents who said they supported sidewalks but they weren't necessary on the proposed streets.

 The projects approved Monday night include:

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  • Safe Routes to School grant application for sidewalk at Harmony Drive and Lullaby Lane
  • Sidewalk construction at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department along Cherry Street and Mill Streets S.E.
  • High Visibility "colonial" crosswalks (with reflective paint) at the north side of Cottage and Elm Streets S.W. and at the south side of Cottage and Battle Streets S.W.
  • Safe Routes to School grant application for a sidewalk along Cherry Street S.W.
  • Striping and crosswalk for the Center Street N. / Ayr Hill Avenue N. intersection

Cunningham Park SRTS Grant Application Passes 5-2

Some projects needed Council permission in order to move forward with applications for Safe Routes To School grants, which make state money available to jurisdictions that improve travel routes to local schools.

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After the schools’ volunteer groups and town staff had limited time to determine which project on their lists would be submitted to the Virginia Department of Transportation for funding. In many cases, projects were chosen by their proximity to the school: Harmony Drive is the closest student street to Cunningham Park Elementary School, said  Dennis Johnson, acting director of public works.

But it is not the road in most need of a sidewalk, residents of Harmony Drive S.E. and S.W. told the Council. Spending money on the road – which runs Southeast from Park Street– was inefficient, they said.

The portion of Harmony Drive S.W. included in the SRTS proposal – the stretch that shares a corner with Lullaby Lane and borders Cunningham Park school property – is a dead-end block with just five houses, residents said.

The car and foot traffic is so low there that children regularly play basketball in the middle of the road, one resident said. And children who go to Cunningham Park Elementary School use a path at the end of the road – not Park Street – to get to school each morning, said resident Joshua Plante, who leads eight to 10 children along that route each morning.

“I can tell you from experience that there is no need for a sidewalk,” Plante said.

Residents of Harmony Drive S.E., which connects Park Street to Lullaby and then Tapawingo, said they hadn’t heard support for the project in their neighborhood,

“If you’re not going to do a grid [to connect all of those roads] it’s a lost cause,” resident Ken Holden said.

Sharon Baum, SRTS coordinator for Cunningham Park who canvassed the neighborhood and talked with homeowners, said many more residents who could not attend the meeting had verbally expressed their support for the project.

 Johnson said there was not enough time to get public input on the grid of sidewalks residents suggested before the June 3 grant application deadline.

“If we don’t put something in by June 3, we restart the entire project over again, with another new travel plan,” Baum said.

 “We can always authorize design work [with the money VDOT provides] and halt before construction,” Johnson said.

Council voted to include Lullaby Lane as part of the application, in an attempt to create part of that grid, and follow up with residents of that road as quickly as possible. Council members Howard Springsteen and Michael Polychrones voted against the application.

Project Near Community Center Isn't On Priority List But Would Make Area Safer, Council Says

Sidewalk construction at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department along Cherry Street SE and Mill Street S.E. –a route that is part of Vienna Elementary Schools’ pedestrian network but was not specifically pinned for a VDOT grant request – also drew concern from a resident and some council members. They worried the area wasn’t big enough; that removal of trees could create other issues; or that there could be issues with the boundary between the Volunteer Fire Department’s parking lot and the town's right of way.

Council members questioned why the project accelerated so quickly, since it is not listed on the town’s sidewalk priority list.

“There are other sidewalks that have been waiting,” Council member Laurie Cole said.

Johnson said the town house subdivision along Cherry and Mill streets did not exist nor was anticipated when the sidewalk task force first compiled their list.

One resident said she didn't think the road was on the route that many local children took to school, and having a sidewalk on one side of the road wouldn't make much of a difference.

The Council authorized Johnson to move forward with the project, contingent on the submission and approval of a design and a  survey of the boundaries between public right of way and VVFD property.

Vienna Elementary SRTS Application Moves Forward

The final Safe Routes to School application -- which asks for funding for a four-foot sidewalk between Courthouse Road and Cottage Street -- received no objections.

Sean McCall, a SRTS organizer for Vienna Elementary School, said while the school has just 82 designated walkers, those students generate more than 30,000 trips a year.

"If you had a child you wouldn’t say 'Hey, run into the street' every day, twice a day,  for a year and not think you were being irresponsible," he said. "These sidewalks you're building will get used."


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