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ALEXANDRIA, Va — The city will host a community open house next month on proposed safety and access improvements along W. Braddock Road and N. Howard Street, a roughly 1.5-mile corridor that serves as a daily walking and biking route between the two campuses of Alexandria City High School.
The open house is scheduled for Thursday, June 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Forum at the Minnie Howard Campus on W. Braddock Road. A brief presentation by the project team will begin at 6 p.m., and residents are invited to drop in throughout the evening to talk with staff about existing conditions and potential changes.
According to the city, the proposed improvements will focus on stronger bicycle connectivity, enhanced crosswalks, signal timing adjustments and safer connections between the Minnie Howard and King Street high school campuses.
The W. Braddock Road Corridor and N. Howard Street Access and Safety Improvements Study covers W. Braddock Road between N. Van Dorn Street and Crest Street, along with N. Howard Street between Seminary Road and W. Braddock Road. The corridor handles the daily movement of hundreds of students between the two campuses.
The study is separate from the Braddock Road Corridor Improvements Project on the east end of Braddock Road, between Russell Road and West Street near the Braddock Road Metro station. The Traffic and Parking Board approved that project 6-0 on Feb. 23, but residents and two churches appealed the decision to City Council, which is scheduled to hear the appeal at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center.
Ryan Belmore
The W. Braddock Road study builds on the 2023 Safe Routes to School Walk Audit conducted at both Alexandria City High School campuses and applies principles from the city's Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Because the 2023 walk audit was conducted while the new Minnie Howard building was still under construction, staff said earlier recommendations will be revisited in light of the completed campus.
The team will also take a limited look at the King Street-Quaker Lane-Braddock Road intersection, focusing on crosswalks with heavy student use. Larger changes to that intersection are not part of the study.
Design concepts are expected to be shared with the community this spring, with a preferred concept identified by summer. The current effort is funded only through the concept stage; no construction is planned as part of the study. Staff said an implementation strategy and grant funding would need to follow.
A separate but nearby effort, the King Street-Bradlee Safety and Mobility Enhancements project, is moving toward design and construction of multimodal safety and stormwater improvements on King Street between N. Quaker Lane and Menokin Drive.
Presentation slides and other materials will be posted to the project website after the open house, and a feedback form will open for residents who cannot attend in person.
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