Duke Street Traffic Mitigation Pilots

The City is working through two pilot projects aimed at reducing regional cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets and shifting traffic onto the major arterials.  To do this, we also must improve the flow of traffic on the arterials and make those routes faster than cutting through the neighborhoods.  
Page updated on September 22, 2022 at 8:40 AM

What's Happening?

  • Provide input on the pilot by filling out the Feedback Form.
  • The Phase II Pilot started on September 12.  Please be patient as people shift their travel routes!  Remember that the Metrorail shutdown stations in Alexandria starting this week, so traffic conditions are not normal. 
  • The City is working with the community to implement pilot projects along Duke Street to evaluate how signal timing changes might reduce cut-through traffic in neighborhoods by keeping traffic on main arterials and reducing congestion on Duke Street.  
  • The City is talking to the community about Phase II of the pilot, which includes reinstituting Phase I as well as restricting access to the Telegraph Road ramp from eastbound Duke Street from West Taylor Run Parkway.  The goals of this phase would be to further reduce cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets as well as test traffic patterns prior to implementation of the larger Duke Street at West Taylor Run and Telegraph Ramp project.  The pilot is slated to begin on September 12.  See the Frequently Asked Questions  and Neighborhood Flyer that was mailed to residents.
  • Phase I of the pilot was completed on April 30, 2022.  Initial findings show that the changes to signal timing dramatically reduced cut-through traffic.  See the FINAL REPORT and the key findings below.  
  • This project is coordinating closely with two major capital projects - The Duke Street Transitway project and the Duke Street at West Taylor Run intersection project.  Community engagement for the design of Duke Street will begin in Fall 2022, and will be informed by these pilots.  All are encouraged to participate. 

Pilot Projects

The City has recently gained access to a platform that helps analyze traffic volumes and patterns.  With this new technology, the City is more equipped to experiment with changes to the roadway to understand how people modify their behavior in response to the changes on the street. The City is working through two pilot projects aimed at reducing regional cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets and shifting traffic onto the major arterials.  To do this, we also must improve the flow of traffic on the arterials and make those routes faster than cutting through the neighborhoods.  

Phase I Pilot: The first phase of this pilot focused on changing signal timing to allow more green time for Quaker Lane and Duke Street and shortening green time from the local streets.  The goal was to shift cut-through traffic from residential streets to the arterials. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions.   The pilot ran for four months - from January through April 2022 - and was largely successful.  The goal noted in the Evaluation Plan was to shift 20% of traffic off of the local streets, but the numbers were much higher.  See theFINAL REPORT .  More background can be found in the project presentations listed below.

Phase II Pilot: The second phase of this pilot will reinstate the signal timing changes from Phase I and restrict access to the Telegraph Road ramp directly from West Taylor Run Parkway.  The details of this pilot were discussed with the community in August 2022.  The goals of this phase are to reduce congestion on Duke Street stemming from the backup at the West Taylor Run Parkway signal. The ramp traffic will only have a red light if pedestrians push the button but otherwise will be unrestricted flow.  By reducing this congestion along Duke Street, using the arterials will be a preferable alternative for cut-through traffic, further reducing traffic on residential streets. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions . 

Key Findings*

View the FINAL REPORT HERE

AFTER

  • Overall volume of cut-through traffic on the Telegraph Road ramp from eastbound Duke Street increased by 10%.

  • Travel times for all routes were faster than the before period but were about 35% faster using Quaker Lane, and West Taylor Run was 20% faster than the before period.    ​

  • Cut-through traffic on:

    • Quaker Lane increased by 78%.    ​

    • Cambridge Road decreased by 73%.​

    • West Taylor Run Parkway decreased by only 12%. 

    • Yale Drive, with the new “no left turn” restriction in place, decreased by 96%, from 706 to 31 vehicles in the peak period.

    • Fort Williams Parkway decreased substantially, by 81%, from 171 to 32 vehicles in the peak period.

 

BEFORE 

  • Of the traffic coming from Seminary Road and Quaker Lane, about 41% of the drivers use Quaker Lane to access the Telegraph Road ramp and more than half use cut-through local streets – Cambridge Road, Yale Drive and West Taylor Run Parkway.
    • Of traffic coming from Seminary Road, 16% use Jordon Street (5%) or Fort Williams Parkway (11%).  35% use Quaker Lane and about half use local streets east of Quaker Lane.
    • Of traffic coming from King Street, about 85% uses West Taylor Run Parkway with most of the rest using Cambridge Road (13%)

*Numbers updated 8/8/2022 based on new analysis to include April in the BEFORE period and updated StreetLight platform data. 

Project Background

The Duke Street corridor has long been associated with the evening congestion that results in regional cut-through traffic on neighborhood streets.  While there are broader City goals to reduce single occupancy vehicle travel and increase transit ridership to reduce congestion in the region, many strategies to effectively work toward these goals are longer term.  Over the past ten years, the City has sought funding for larger capital projects that support these goals. 

  • The City's Smart Mobility Program focuses on reducing congestion by using technology and has prioritized Duke Street for a number of initiatives included Transit Signal Priority (complete) and Adaptive Traffic Signal Control.  
  • Increasing transit ridership means investing in more frequent and reliable service.  The City has been focusing on the three corridors identified for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) since 2008.   In 2020, the City was award $75m to construct a transitway along Duke Street. 
  • Duke Street at West Taylor Run is one of the City's highest crash intersections and a known factor contributing to the traffic congestion on Duke Street where drivers access the Telegraph Road ramp.  The City was award $5.7m to fund intersection improvements and construct an additional access ramp to Telegraph Road in 2025.

During the community engagement for the Alexandria Mobility Plan update, the Duke Street In Motion project and from the annual resident survey, the City recognizes that traffic congestion is a top concern for residents and that it impact quality of life in the City.  With more people working from home, traffic volumes were down substantially over the last year, but they are beginning to return to more normal numbers.   These pilots are intended to help address this concern. 

Community Engagement

PHASE II: The project team met with community members to relay results of the Phase I pilot and gauge interest in moving forward with Phase II.  Based on general support, the team worked with the College Clover Park Civic Association (CCPCA) board to schedule a meeting on August 10, 2022  at 7pm to provide an overview of the proposed Phase II pilot and get feedback. The meeting is open to the public and anyone is invited to attend to learn more about the proposal and timeline for the larger West Taylor Run intersection project.   The City will be hosting a meeting with the same information on August 11th.

Duke Street Traffic Mitigation Phase II map 1 July 2022
Duke Street Traffic Mitigation Phase II map 2 July 2022

PHASE I: The project team has been working with civic association leadership to get input on the pilot projects and the level of community support.  The initial plans were refined to incorporate their feedback.  On October 14, staff discussed the proposed options with the Seminary Hill Civic Association.  The CCPCA Board discussed the proposals and provided feedback to staff.  A CCPCA was held on October 21 for the community to discuss the proposals with staff, ask questions and provide input.  On October 25 and November 17, the City briefed the Traffic and Parking Board and Transportation Commission, respectively, to get their feedback.  

Related News

Getting traffic out of neighborhoods - 8/18/22

What is cut-through traffic and how does your phone help Alexandria track it? - 8/16/22

New data shows progress on decreasing cut-through traffic - 8/10/22

Access to Telegraph Road ramp would change under Alexandria pilot program - 7/26/22

City says Duke Street changes have kept more traffic off neighborhood streets - 7/21/22

City of Alexandria eNews - 12/30/21

Message boards being placed near Duke Street ahead of upcoming signal overhaul- 12/14/21

More Changes Coming to Duke Street Traffic Flow - 12/13/21

Alexandria unveils new plan to reduce cut-through traffic in residential neighborhood - 11/09/21

Duke Street could go into effect early next year- 11/01/21

Contact information: Hillary.Orr@Alexandriava.gov