COMMUNITY MEETING
OLD COURTHOUSE ROAD TRAFFIC CALMING PROPOSAL
THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011
EPIPHANY CHURCH –
The Traffic Calming Task Force consisting of members of our community will host a Community Meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to explain the proposal, receive feedback, and answer any questions or concerns. Representatives of the Hunter Mill District Supervisor’s Office and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation will attend and answer all community questions.
The Traffic Calming Task Force worked with Fairfax County to develop these solutions to reduce speed on Old Courthouse Road. The location of the 4 speed tables are as follows, see below or click on Speed Table Device Placement Map:
1) 414 and 2) 602 Old Courthouse Rd and 1729 Larkmeade Dr.
3) 8910, 4) 9015 and 9018 Old Courthouse Rd. You do not need to attend the meeting in order to vote on the proposal. Ballots will be distributed to residences at a later time to vote on the final proposal. If you live in the shaded area of the Ballot Area Map, you will be receiving a ballot. Click to see a sample Completed Ballot. If you are not able to attend the meeting, but have questions, please email ctcocr@verizon.net for the Task Force Member in your community.
Thank you, Traffic Calming Task Force
October 2010
Friends and Neighbors,
As you all know, Old Courthouse Road is a minor arterial road. Because of its category, OCR was not eligible for traffic calming until an exception was granted last year. For the past six years, we worked diligently with Fairfax County, Town of Vienna, FCDOT, VDOT, and our public officials to bring this exception to fruition. I want to thank all of you for your support, comments, recommendations, hard work, persistence, and patience because without the family’s pushing for safety, we would not have gotten this far. Why do you say this traffic calming project is crucial and necessary for our community? Very simply because of safety for our families - the underlying issue, what are the facts?
1. Volume of Cars – 14,000 cars on a daily basis in 2010 compared to 1200 cars in 1996
2. Speed of Vehicles -- 496 speeding citations in 2010, a 72% increase over 2008 speeding citations figures (496 by Town of Vienna, 13 by Fairfax County)
3. # of Accidents – total of 11 accidents, I fatal, killing a 21yr old Fairfax County resident, speed and alcohol
Our community is a residential, school zone with a 25mh speed limit.
The figures above were based on 2008 traffic study. I’m sure you are all aware the situation now is much worse and perilous. I hear from many Mothers in our community who are worried about the children crossing the street to get to school. Our children and family members constantly take their lives in their own hands as they cross Old Courthouse Road.
As a member of this community and a resident of Old Courthouse Road since 1998, I am VERY concerned of the statistics and the trends my family is seeing and experiencing. The rail construction did not only bring more traffic due to cars avoiding congestion and road closures on Rt 7/Rt 123, it also brought large construction trucks speeding through Old Courthouse Road to get to construction on Rt 7 putting our family members in even more danger.
To bring safety back to our community, we asked Fairfax Country Department of Transportation to analyze and create a traffic calming strategy for
1. Raised crosswalk (example is on OCR between Westbriar and Fairway Dr) on Pine Valley intersection where children cross the street to get to Westbriar Elementary School
2. Speed table (example is on OCR between Westbriar and Fairway Dr) between
3. Speed table (example is on OCR between Westbriar and Fairway Dr) between
4. Speed table (example is on OCR between Westbriar and Fairway Dr) between
5. Raised crosswalk (example is on OCR between Westbriar and Fairway Dr) on Creek Crossing intersection
Here is a copy of the Raised Crosswalk and Speed Table specifications. FCDOT tells us that the devices are most effective if they are 500 to 800 feet apart. Location of devices are based on maintaining appropriate line of sight to the devices, locations of intersecting streets and underground utilities, driveway entrances, and visual impacts of the devices and associated signing for the residents who live adjacent to the devices.
The process going forward is as follows, you can also read the information on the web, www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot:
1. Signatures to be obtained by the members of the Task Force from affected property owners. The Task Force will obtain initial feedback from members of the community. The Task Force and District Supervisor will be consulted on any changes or adjustments to the Conceptual Plan for approval.
2. There will be a series of community meetings to keep communication open and flowing with the community. Task Force and FCDOT will be present for all community meetings. Questions from the community will be taken by FCDOT and the Task Force.
3. Once it has been established that the Conceptual Plan has enough support and the community does not have additional questions, ballots will be provided to all affected areas of the traffic calming project. A minimum of 50% of residences on the affected ballot is expected to cast; out of the total ballots 60% approval rate is need to pass and implement the Conceptual plan.
4. If approved by the community, Board of Supervisors will approve and endorse then FCDOT notifies VDOT of the actions of the Board of Supervisors for scheduling and implementation.
This issue is really not about "inconvenience”, this is a SAFETY issue for the children who cross the street on a daily basis, for our community. They should not have to worry about the risk of getting hit by a car to attend school. Again, thank you for all your support, hard work and patience.
Based on studies done by the Town of Vienna, speeding decreased 60% when the speed tables were installed on the Town of Vienna side of OCR. I will post the actual numbers on the www.OCRVA.com website in the next couple of days. This is really not about an "inconvenience" issue, this is a SAFETY issue for the children who cross the street on a daily basis, for members of our community. No one in this community should have to worry about the risk of getting hit by a car to get to school, to get home, to visit out neighbors. Let us know if you have questions.
Contact CTCOCR Task Force at ctcocr@verizon.net
CTCOCR Task Force
Citizens for Traffic Calming on
Mark Your Calendars -- Wednesday, 28 January 2009 Town Meeting Update hosted by Supervisor Hudgins at Westbriar Elementary School. Watch for Updates.
30 September 2008 Town Meeting - Westbriar Elementary School
The September 30th Town Meeting sponsored by Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, public officials and about 150 Fairfax County and Town of Vienna residents of Old Courthouse Road and its surrounding streets attended a Town Meeting to discuss the challenges that the community faces on a daily basis and possible solutions to bring traffic calming and safety back to families of Old Courthouse Road and its surrounding streets.
Our community thanks the following public officials who attended the meeting: Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, Senator Chap Petersen, Delegate Steve Shannon, Mayor Jane Seeman, Town of Vienna TSC Chairman Steve Kenney, VDOT Staff, and FCDOT staff. Here are 2 articles:
Click here for the 30 September Town Meeting Summary.
**Special Thanks to the following individuals for helping with the preparations for the Town Meeting: Allan Rubin, Anna Grill, Cathy Tierney, Jack and Virginia Paganelli, Morgan Hanzlick, Katie Simensen, Sarah De Kramer, Town of Vienna Police, Fairfax County Police, Bruce and Jody Bennett.
First Stage of the 2008 Project for Old Courthouse Road
November 2008, Maintenance and introduction of striping -- parking lanes and bikes lanes on Old Courthouse Road between Pine Valley Dr. and Country Club Dr.
A few comments from the community--
Introduction of "Striping" on Old Courthouse Rd between Pine Valley Dr. and Country Club Dr.
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Maintenance of Crosswalk on Pine Valley Dr.
4 December 2008, Installation of a landing on Pine Valley Drive Crosswalk to Westbriar Elementary School. As you can see from the picture above, there is no landing for the crosswalk on Pine Valley used by the children, pedestrians.
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9 December 2008, Completion of landing on Pine Valley Dr.
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How did we get here? To learn about the process, click on The Process.
