City Council has prioritized transit and transportation alternatives along the Duke Street corridor for more than ten years. In 2008, the Transportation Master Plan identified Duke Street as one of three priority transit corridors. In 2012, the City worked with the community to develop conceptual plans for the corridor. In 2018, the City received funding to advance the design, and in 2020, the project was fully funded.

Today, there is high-density residential throughout the corridor, and with more redevelopment, especially at the Landmark Mall site, there will be more people along Duke Street.  Duke Street currently has the most ridership of any corridor in the City. This project is an opportunity to improve the existing transit experience and encourage even more use of buses to get around.

Right now, the bus along the corridor isn't competitive with a vehicle in terms of speed. A more efficient, reliable and comfortable bus service – with safe, connections -- will make it a more attractive option. A well-designed roadway can make travel safer and more efficient for everyone, reduce congestion, and improve air quality. The City wants to keep Duke Street in Motion.

Yes. Since many people live, work, or visit locations within walking or biking distance to Duke Street, safe and convenient routes between bus stops and the places people need to go along the corridor will be essential elements of this project.

While transit is the key focus of this project, Duke Street is an important connection for people in cars. Community conversations have made it clear that traffic along this roadway and through the adjacent neighborhoods is a major concern that needs to be considered with any changes to the corridor. Any major roadway design changes will include an analysis that will evaluate the impacts to traffic in the area.

The City’s goal is to plan for the long-term sustainability of the Duke Street corridor while supporting travel needs in the shorter term. The project coordinates with current and planned development along the corridor, as well as projects happening around the region. This project is a significant investment for the City, and we want to ensure the BRT system of the future incorporates the latest technology and considers future uses along the corridor.

During community engagement as part of the Central Alexandria Traffic Study and the Alexandria Mobility Plan, it was clear that cut-through traffic is a major concern in this area. While this project will not directly address cut-through traffic, making transit a more attractive option has been shown to move some people to use it more frequently. However, the City has a number of projects and initiatives aimed at improving traffic flow and reducing cut-through traffic through the Smart Mobility program and capital projects such as Duke Street at West Taylor Run.

Potential overpasses linking Duke Street to Eisenhower Avenue were discussed many years ago by city Staff and Council. City Council did not take action to move this concept forward due to the cost and various community and traffic concerns, and this connection is not in any current City plans.

The Duke Street corridor had the highest ridership of all transit routes in Alexandria (pre-COVID), with approximately 2,800 rides per day. During the initial BRT planning study in 2012, ridership estimates after full build-out of the BRT ranged from 6,000-13,000 riders per day. However, these numbers could change due to shifts in travel patterns and based on the outcome of the Duke Street In Motion process. Ridership estimates will be recalculated during the Environmental Analysis, which will occur after a conceptual plan has been selected. The analysis will consider post-COVID travel pattern changes (long-and short-term), changes in land use (most notably the Landmark Mall site), and the types of BRT improvements included in the Duke Street and the West End Transitway designs.

Like transit ridership projections, future traffic projections will have to be re-evaluated based on changing commuting patterns and new development. This will be part of the alternatives review and analysis portion of the project.

Pre-COVID traffic counts are as follows:

• Duke @ Landmark – 45,000 Average Daily Trips (ADT)
• Duke @ Pickett – 33,000 ADT
• Duke @ Jordan – 32,700 ADT
• Duke @ Quaker – 36,500 ADT
• Duke @ Talyor Run – 39,000 ADT

Boundaries for this transit corridor were established by City Council in 2008 and were then updated in 2012. The Duke Street Transitway will connect to another forthcoming transitway (the West End Transitway) at Landmark Mall, which itself will be a major destination, and will also connect to the King Street Metrorail Station, which is currently a major destination for riders along Duke Street.

There is only a small portion of Duke Street west of I-395 that is in the City of Alexandria. Should Fairfax County develop a plan for a BRT corridor to the west, the City will work with them to provide connections that could create a more regional transit network.

We recognize that this is a concern to many residents and others who travel through the Duke Street corridor. While this issue will not be addressed as part of this project, the City has been awarded $5.7M funds from Virginia’s Smart Scale Program contributing to the redesign and construction of the Duke Street and West Taylor Run Parkway intersection, as well as additional access to the Telegraph Road interchange. Community engagement for the Duke Street and West Taylor Run project will begin in fall 2021, and the Duke and West Taylor Run Parkway intersection efforts will be coordinated with this Duke Street transit project to ensure that bus stop placement is aligned.

How the access roads are used will be determined through the design process. Any changes to the service roads would involve an impact analysis and discussions with the community.

The next step is to create draft Goals and Vision Statements based on comments from the community. The City is currently bringing a design/engineering consultant on board to use the community input and vision to develop concept alternatives. The community will have the opportunity to weigh in on the project Goals and Vision statements and participate in the design planning process.

 Bus Rapid Transit (or BRT) system aims to make bus transit more efficient, reliable, and comfortable by adding elements often seen in rail transit like MetroRail. In general, BRT is a flexible system of facilities, equipment, services, and amenities that improve the speed, reliability, and identity of the bus. Specific BRT system elements vary but may include characteristics such as:

• More frequent service
• Upgraded bus stops with enhanced passenger amenities, including level boarding that makes it easier and faster, especially for passengers with difficulties.
• Vehicles and stations branded for easy recognition by riders
• Transit signal priority enabling buses to stop less often at red lights. (You can see a video about this technology here.)
• Queue jump lanes to allow BRT vehicles to bypass traffic
• Part-time or full-time bus lanes with to provide a bus-only pathway that can function similar to a rail-way, with dedicated space
• Pre-paid boarding using all doors to reduce the time it takes for passengers to get on and off the bus

A lot has changed since 2012. With the first phase of this project, we will be defining a Community Vision and specific Goals for the corridor, to make sure that we have an up-to-date understanding of how the community wants this corridor to function, feel, and look. Based on the Vision and Goals, we will re-evaluate previous transit plans for the Duke Street Corridor and develop alternative concepts to review with the community. After getting feedback, we will refine and finalize one concept and move forward with environmental analysis, design, and construction.

There are a few “givens” to this effort:

• The project area is defined as the Landmark Mall site to King Street Metrorail Station via Duke Street.
• Bus transit will be the primary component of the final concept.
• Bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicular improvements will be included, where possible, and will follow other City priorities like Vision Zero and the Complete Streets Design Guidelines.
• The project will involve coordination with other ongoing initiatives and projects.

There are several pieces that are yet to be determined, including:

• The potential use of dedicated transit lanes
• Removal/retention of service roads
• Station locations and amenities
• The system operator (WMATA or DASH) for any new bus service
• The potential inclusion of bike facilities, trails, sidewalks, landscaping, stormwater, drainage, etc.
• And more!

Our goal is to include as many people from the Duke Street community as possible, throughout the project. In the first phase, we are building a community vision – so we need your input!

On July 9, 2020, the City of Alexandria was awarded $75 million in regional revenues from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) in the 2020-2025 Six Year Program. This funding will be used to help construct the first phase of improvements identified in the planning and public input phases of the project. Prior to July 2020, through NVTA’s inaugural 2018-2023 Six Year Program, the City received $12 million in regional revenues, utilized towards the design and engineering phases of the project.