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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Alexandria stands to receive $160,000 in technical assistance for a citywide bicycle network analysis and a safety study along Mount Vernon Avenue when the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board meets Wednesday in Washington.
The board will vote on $980,000 in awards across 12 projects through two regional programs. Alexandria projects are recommended for funding under both.
Bicycle network gap analysis
The first grant, $80,000 through the Transportation Land-Use Connections Program, would fund a Bicycle Network Gap Analysis and Conceptual Design for the city. The program promotes walkable, mixed-use communities and a range of transportation options, and a selection panel drawn from the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the National Capital Planning Commission, the Transportation Research Board and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments staff recommended the project after meeting April 16.
The Alexandria award is one of six recommended through the program, alongside projects in Charles, Montgomery, Arlington and Prince William counties and the city of Rockville, according to a TPB staff presentation. The program received 10 applications requesting a combined $880,000.
A second push on Mount Vernon Avenue safety
The second grant, $80,000 through the Regional Roadway Safety Program, would fund a Mount Vernon Avenue Corridor Study between Glendale Avenue and Leadbeater Street. According to a May 14 staff memo, the study will produce prioritized safety recommendations, conceptual designs for safety countermeasures, an evaluation of potential slow zones and community engagement, equipping the city to pursue both near-term tactical improvements and funding for permanent infrastructure upgrades.
The corridor study is separate from but adjacent to the Mount Vernon Avenue North Intersection Improvements project the city's Transportation Commission is set to endorse the same evening for a SMART SCALE grant application. Together, the two efforts signal a sustained push to address safety on a corridor the city has studied since 2016.
The roadway safety program, established by the TPB in 2020 to support safety efforts regionwide, has awarded $2.1 million across 32 projects since its launch. For this round, the program received 11 applications totaling $900,000 in requests, with selection handled by a panel of TPB staff and safety officials from the District, Maryland and Virginia departments of transportation. Each project was scored on a 100-point scale weighing program priorities and project assessment equally.
After the panel recommended four projects, Maryland and Virginia each agreed to fund an additional project, bringing the total to six and the full award to $500,000. Alexandria's Mount Vernon Avenue project was among the four originally recommended by the panel.
Alexandria also a study site
Alexandria figures into a third project as well. A Montgomery County-led $80,000 study titled "Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons in Context" will collect data at 18 pedestrian hybrid beacon locations in Montgomery County, Arlington County and the city of Alexandria. The study will measure driver yield rates, pedestrian activation rates and how device placement and signal phasing affect compliance, with the goal of identifying regional best practices for using the beacons in different roadway and land-use contexts.
Next steps
If approved, TPB staff plan to begin the consultant selection process in June, with task order awards and project kickoffs running through September. Roadway safety projects are expected to be completed by June 30, 2027.
The Transportation Planning Board meets from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the National Association of Counties, 660 North Capitol Street NW, in Washington. TPB Chair Neil Harris, Charles County Commissioner President, will preside.
