Meeting Wrap-Up:Many thanks to all who attended our February 6 meeting, at which Christine Mayuer and Bob Garbacz of T&ES provided some updates about traffic projects and solicited input from the audience.A summary of the evening:

• The City has conducted a new traffic count for the planned improvements at King, Russell, and Callahan which may result in changes to the plans. The City expects to hold a meeting on the subject in the spring.
• Commonwealth Avenue is scheduled for repaving this year, and some improvements (including issues identified in an audit of safe routes to Maury Elementary) will be part of the project; a meeting also will be held by the City.
• Most of the audience comments concerned the King/Russell/Callahan intersection. Many residents supported reconfiguring the intersection to have two southbound lanes from Russell to Callahan. Other concerns included that the congestion at the intersection overflows into side streets, and whether better timing at the intersection could eliminate the overflow. Additionally, the traffic island at Russell and Cedar, which was installed for safety reasons, may have partially succeeded in discouraging southbound traffic from driving on the wrong side of the road, but also may contribute to congestion. An additional question concerned the traffic count and whether additional data should be collected.
• Concerns also were expressed about Commonwealth Avenue, and particularly the intersection with Oak Street. The geometry of the intersection makes pedestrian crossing difficult and the bikeshare station also interferes with visibility.
• Mixed opinions were expressed about bike lanes. The addition/modification of bike lanes at King/Russell/Callahan is part of the existing plan, but would not require the removal of any traffic lanes. Some supported the addition of bike lanes along Commonwealth.
• General concerns were expressed about the implications for traffic of Amazon’s “HQ2” in Crystal City and population growth overall. Some also commented that there was distrust of the City because of how Seminary Road had been handled.

Keeping Informed. We try to provide regular updates on local news, Rosemont history, and general happenings in the neighborhood and Alexandria via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RosemontCitizensAssociation). The community email list can be accessed at https://groups.io/g/rosemontva.

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Jol Silversmith
President, RCA