For those on the thread that share concerns about the safety issues along this corridor, could I please encourage a couple of courses of action?

1. Fill out a request for a safety investigation pertaining to the road and sidewalk conditions/signage/speed limits/lack of speed bumps/etc. here:
https://arlingtonva.qscend.com/311/request/add

2. Email the county board:
Countyboard@arlingtonva.us

3. Email the school board:
school.board@apsva.us


As I was driving my child to winter break camp this morning, it was hard to ignore the abundance of pedestrian crossing signs on N Carlin Springs Road right by the Arlington Forest Club Pool and the speed bumps on the short stretch of N Vermont Street between N Carlin Springs & Wilson Blvd. The county has the ability to do better, let's advocate for it. They talk a bit talk about equity, they should literally put their money where their mouth is. Lives are not less valuable in S Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be clear, the kids aren’t generally just walking on the road. At dismissal time, more than 1000 kids are released at the same time. This isn’t the same as a lone pedestrian choosing to walk in the road rather than on the sidewalk (which, by the way, is a pretty maddening habit of a lot of Arlington residents). There are hundreds of kids in the same small stretch of sidewalk at the same time and they simply don’t fit, and it’s pretty common to see a few kids at any given time forced by the crowd off the sidewalk and into the street. They’re not making a poor choice. They’ve simply not been given a way to safely exit the school and cross the street.

Yes! The sidewalk is ridiculously narrow, and there is zero buffer between it and the street. Basically, when I am walking on it to take my 8 year old child to the bus stop, if I were to stick out my arm, I could get a high five from my every motorist driving by.

I don't understand why the County doesn't just take part of the Kenmore property along the stretch of Carlin Springs and create a little wider street and wider sidewalks. There's plenty of footage between the street and the parking lot that could be better used; and it doesn't involve Fairfax County or the State, so there's no excuse.

Anonymous wrote:To be clear, the kids aren’t generally just walking on the road. At dismissal time, more than 1000 kids are released at the same time. This isn’t the same as a lone pedestrian choosing to walk in the road rather than on the sidewalk (which, by the way, is a pretty maddening habit of a lot of Arlington residents). There are hundreds of kids in the same small stretch of sidewalk at the same time and they simply don’t fit, and it’s pretty common to see a few kids at any given time forced by the crowd off the sidewalk and into the street. They’re not making a poor choice. They’ve simply not been given a way to safely exit the school and cross the street.

Yes! The sidewalk is ridiculously narrow, and there is zero buffer between it and the street. Basically, when I am walking on it to take my 8 year old child to the bus stop, if I were to stick out my arm, I could get a high five from my every motorist driving by.

To be clear, the kids aren’t generally just walking on the road. At dismissal time, more than 1000 kids are released at the same time. This isn’t the same as a lone pedestrian choosing to walk in the road rather than on the sidewalk (which, by the way, is a pretty maddening habit of a lot of Arlington residents). There are hundreds of kids in the same small stretch of sidewalk at the same time and they simply don’t fit, and it’s pretty common to see a few kids at any given time forced by the crowd off the sidewalk and into the street. They’re not making a poor choice. They’ve simply not been given a way to safely exit the school and cross the street.

Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s an accident waiting to happen the way it is now. If they restriped it with bike lanes, a lane in each direction, and a center turn lane, I don’t think it would be much worse. Wilson Blvd between Seven Corners and Ballston isn’t bad now that it’s down to one lane, even though it took them a few configurations to get it right.

PP here--YES, this. It's not rocket science. And, if people are wholly unable to adapt to changes like this to a singular road, then we have bigger problems than traffic congestion....

Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s an accident waiting to happen the way it is now. If they restriped it with bike lanes, a lane in each direction, and a center turn lane, I don’t think it would be much worse. Wilson Blvd between Seven Corners and Ballston isn’t bad now that it’s down to one lane, even though it took them a few configurations to get it right.

I can get behind trying that -- just a single lane in each direction would be an even worse nightmare. A center turn lane at least (might) help keep traffic in each direction moving.