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Welcome to Barcroft Neighborhood
Traffic Calming on S. Taylor St
In chronological order, so page down for the latest or Report from Betty Diggs, Arlington CountyMay 15, 2006Dear Workgroup: I thought I would give a progress report on all your hard work regarding the petitioning process. Congrats! Breakdown: Total households: 125 Total households in support: 104 (83%) Total households not in support: 3 (2%) Total households not available: 18 (15%) All support letters from the civic association regarding traffic calming and multiway stops have been received. Letter of support from the church and school have also been received. Barcroft is in the process of pursuing the missing sidewalk segment on S. Taylor Street north of 4th Street. This is a separate process, Neighborhood Conservation program however, it is note worthy. Next steps: The Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee (NTCC) will hold there funding session on June 15th, Thursday at 7:30pm in the County Board Room. At this time, I will present S. Taylor Street as being eligible for funding. Then the community speaks in support of the project (3 minutes). It would be nice to have two or three people plus one representative from the civic association (5 minutes) to speak. After the NTCC considers it is then it will be forward to the County Board for funding at the July 8th County Board meeting, no speakers needed for the County Board meeting, at least not at this time. So please mark your calendars for those dates. When I finish my report I will forward it on to you. This report will be given to the NTCC and the County Board will receive a copy.
It has been a pleasure to work with you all. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
UpdateJune 15, 2006Good News! On June 15th the County's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee approved the South Taylor Street traffic calming plan to be forwarded to the County Board for funding at its July 8th Board meeting.
Thanks to all the neighbors on Taylor who worked so hard to accomplish this outcome, and to Betty Diggs of the Arlington Division of Transportation for all her work developing the project and moving it through the system. The project includes two raised crosswalks, at 9th and at 6th Streets, as well as four way stops at 8th and Taylor and at 4th and Taylor. John Lis led the petitioning group and they got 83% of the affected residents to sign their approval, with only 3 (2%) opposed! See Betty Diggs' report for details.
Final Support LetterFrom: Pat Williamson, President, BSCL Attached is the letter that was sent today to the Arlington County Board. The controversy over another traffic calming project in North Arlington threatens the implementation of ours. The controversy has already caused the funding request to be removed from the consent agenda of the July 8 Board meeting. This means there will be speakers against implementaiton of projects -- specifically the raised crosswalks and speed humps -- and apparently some of the Board members are thinking these folks represent a large percentage of public opinion. The arguments will be heard on EITHER Tuesday or Wednesday night, July 11 or 12 at the recessed County Board meeting as Item No. 66. Elizabeth Diggs will update us on the timing as soon as it becomes clear. I wanted to get this letter out there now but we will need to do follow-up by being present at the actual meeting. I will go to represent the Civic Association and we will need to mobilize others to speak in support.Hang in there!!!! We will not let this slip away....
Pat Williamson
The Honorable Chris Zimmerman Dear Mr. Zimmerman: The Barcroft School and Civic League would like the members of the County Board to know that our organization and our neighborhood support enthusiastically the traffic calming measures for South Taylor Street that you will be considering at the July County Board meeting. The need is acute--this stretch of S. Taylor has an 85th percentile speed of 33 MPH, so one car in six is driving faster than 33. There are bad sight lines on Taylor at 8th Street South, and bad sight lines at cross streets at 6th, 8th and 9th Streets. Our Savior Lutheran School and Church have parents, children and parishioners entering and leaving their parking lot seven days a week. If Barcroft Elementary School children are going to walk from Alcova Heights to school, they have to cross S. Taylor at 8th Street, an intersection no parent would want a child to use as long as speeds are unchecked. Kenmore Middle School students use bus stops along S. Taylor Street. There is a park with soccer fields and playground at the north end of the street, and it is crossed by a well-used bicycle route that parallels Columbia Pike. Support for this project has been solid: After a series of meetings to which all Taylor Street neighbors were invited by mail, 83% signed the petition in favor of the humps, nubs, and raised crosswalks. Only three said no. The atmosphere for traffic calming in Barcroft has changed markedly from the contentious early years as our neighbors have seen the dramatic effect that calming traffic has had on the quality of life for all of us. The hostile element of speeding traffic has been tamed, with a noticeable effect on the general atmosphere here. Pedestrians and bicyclists are pleased with the enhanced level of safety we enjoy. Opposition has been minimal in light of these developments. The design for this project has been expertly handled by our very competent County staff and all processes for involvement of the Taylor Street neighbors were followed in excruciating detail. It stands as an integrated whole, and requires the full treatment with all the proposed elements to be effective. We would be keenly disappointed if it does not go forward as planned. We thank you, the members of the Board who have made a major improvement for our neighborhood possible through the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program and look forward to the installation of this important project. Sincerely yours,
Pat Williamson
Project Approved by the Board - July 11, 2006In a very late night session the Arlington County Board approved this project. There had been a number of letters and emails from Barcrofters to the County Board supporting the project, and the above letter of support from the BSCL. Pat Williamson, as President of the BSCL, and Randy Swart as a citizen spoke for the project and nobody spoke against it.
There is a backlog of traffic calming projects to be done. The County hopes to have this one done within a year.
This page was revised on: July 12, 2006. |
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