Learn More and Share your Thougths: Initial Project Options
Please see materials below for an overview of the initial design options for West Braddock Road and North Howard Street. These options represent the first ideas of what is possible to improve the safety of these roadways. Please use the links below to access information. After you've had a chance to review, please consider completing an online feedback form to share your thoughts.
- Presentation and Project Boards: PDF copies of the presentation and project boards shared at the June 4 Open House. The presentation shares a high-level overview of the project, including summary sections of each of the design options. Project Boards reflect similar content to the presentation. Both items may provide a good overview of the various options.
- Detailed Options: The design team created conceptual design options for West Braddock Road and North Howard Street to convey some of the possibilities to right-size the roads and introduce measures to improve roadway safety. Please use the links below to review the individual options for each roadway.
- West Braddock Road:
- North Howard Street: The link below will take you to a second website, similar to google maps, where you can click through three design options, scroll, and turn on different base layers to look at the design options.
- Link to North Howard Street Design Options: Options include Existing Conditions & No Change, Option 1: Protected Bike Lanes and Option 2: Two-Way Cycle Track
- Online Feedback Form: Please take the City's online feedback form to share your thoughts and opinions on these design options. The form will be open through July 3.
Project Description & Area
The W. Braddock Road Corridor and N. Howard Street Access and Safety Study seeks to develop a conceptual design for safety and access improvements on W. Braddock Road, between N. Van Dorn Street and Crest Street, and on N. Howard Street between Seminary Road and W. Braddock Road. Potential improvements include enhanced crosswalks, dedicated bicycle infrastructure, signal timing adjustments, improvements to pedestrian access and other features to be explored during the concept phase.
The study area, an approximately 1.5 mile segment along W. Braddock Street is a key east-west connection in the City and facilitates the daily movement of hundreds of students between the Minnie Howard Campus and Main Campus of the Alexandria City High Schools. Improving this segment of W. Braddock Road builds upon recommendations from the 2023 Safe Routes to School Walk Audit for the Minnie Howard Campus, considers principles of the Vision Zero Action Plan, and provides opportunities to enhance the City's transportation network and can improve safety for all roadway users.
About Safe Routes to School
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a program that promotes walking and bicycling to school through infrastructure improvements, enforcement, safety education and encouraging walking and bicycling to school. In order to create safer routes to schools, City Staff routinely undertake Walk Audits, or plans, to identify concrete opportunities to increase the safety for students walking and biking to school, and to create a safer and healthier community for all.
In 2023, City Staff completed a walk audit for both campuses of Alexandria City High School (main campus and the Minnie Howard Campus) and developed a series of recommendations which can be found in the Safe Routes to School Assessment. The audit process included community outreach, data analysis and recommendations. The walk audit occurred during the construction of the new Minnie Howard Campus building, so a review of the previous recommendations in light of the new design will be critical. A copy of the audit is below.
Project Phases
PLANNING & DESIGN
Status: Ongoing
Staff and the design team have kicked off an existing conditions study, including site visits, reviewing previous community input and analyzing safety reports to develop concept plans which seek to implement safety and access improvements along the study corridor on W. Braddock Road and N. Howard Street. The team will develop design concepts for community input in Spring 2026 and identify a preferred design later in the year.
IMPLEMENTATION
Status: Not Started
Frequently Asked Questions
This project will take a limited review of the King/Quaker/Braddock intersection to seek opportunities to improve pedestrian access through the intersection, specifically focusing on crosswalks which have a higher volume of student activity. However, given the challenges of implementing changes to the intersection, largescale changes are not envisioned.
City staff and the design team have started initial project analysis at the end of 2025 including a site visit and an existing conditions study to understand the challenges and opportunities of the study area. The design team will develop several high-level concepts for the corridor which will be shared with the community in Spring 2026 for community input and feedback. After integrating community input, a preferred concept will be identified by Summer 2026.
No, this study is limited in scope and funding to develop a preferred concept for the study area. Once a preferred concept is identified, staff can develop an implementation strategy to assess if elements of the design can be phased in based on available funding and seek out grant funding for full concept design and implementation.
Nearby Projects
Contact
For additional information, please contact Sara Brandt-Vorel, Transportation Capital Project Manager, at sara.brandtvorel@alexandriava.gov