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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A comparison table the city published last week overstates how much parking would remain on Russell Road under the plan Alexandria's transportation director selected, the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services says.
The table, attached to Director Leah Riley's Aug. 7 letter to the Traffic and Parking Board, shows the corridor holding 128 on-street parking spaces under Alternative C, up from 122 today. Asked by The Alexandria Brief about the figure, Complete Streets Coordinator Silas Sullivan said the correct number is 120 and that the webpage would be updated. As of Wednesday evening, the posted table still showed 128.
The table's own summary row lists Alternative C's net effect as a loss of two spaces, which is consistent with 120 and not with 128. Figures for the three other options in the table reconcile.
Sullivan also said the removal total in Riley's letter was rounded. The letter lists 13 spaces coming out; the city's interactive design map labels 12.5. The technical figure is 12.5, Sullivan said, and the letter rounded up to be conservative.
What is still open, and when
Two paths remain, and they are not the same thing.
Residents have until 5 p.m. Aug. 24 to appeal Riley's decision to City Council. Under city code, an appeal requires a petition signed by at least 25 city property owners or residents, filed with the City Clerk's Office at 421 King St., Suite 204. Council would hold a public hearing and could retain, remove or change the measure.
Separately, the parking the city proposes to add goes to the Traffic and Parking Board on Sept. 28 for a vote, with public comment. Sullivan confirmed that vote would open its own 15-day appeal window.
Everything else is settled. Asked whether anything besides the additions remains open to public comment, Sullivan said the additions are the only item going to the board in September, and that all other project elements were considered by the board in July.
That includes the design — the median refuge islands, the painted curb extensions, which intersections get which — and the parking removals.
The two dates are six weeks apart. The appeal deadline is Aug. 24; the board meeting is Sept. 28. According to T&ES, the September item covers the additions only.
Why the removals do not return to the board
Riley's letter said the removals were considered at the July 27 meeting and would not be brought back. The board's motion that night covered more spaces on every block and included the 300 block, which Alternative C does not touch.
Sullivan said the director is authorized to take alternative action on matters within the board's purview so long as the board considered the subject. During the July meeting, he said, the board considered various configurations of where parking could be removed, and every space designated for removal in Riley's letter is on a block the board considered.
Residents who filed appeal petitions against the board's July 27 recommendation were told last week those appeals no longer apply, because the recommendation will not go into effect.
How Alternative C came together
Sullivan said Alternative C was developed after the July 27 hearing.
The sequence was quick. T&ES met with Naomi Brooks Principal Suzanne Hess in early August. On Aug. 5, Hess wrote to Deputy Director Hillary Orr saying she was pleased the Fire Department supported adding parking on Johnston Place, and that the compromise — the additional teacher parking spaces and the two loading and unloading spaces on Russell Road — better balances the needs of staff, visitors and families while still supporting the project's goals. She wrote that she supported moving forward.
Riley's letter went to the board two days later.
Sullivan said the six spaces on Johnston Place would be new capacity. The block, alongside Beach Park, is currently signed as a no-parking area, and it is not included in the 122-space baseline used to measure the corridor today.
What Alternative C would do
The plan would install painted curb extensions at four intersections along Russell Road — West Myrtle, West Chapman, West Oak and West Maple streets — and median refuge islands at two more, West Masonic View Avenue and West Walnut Street, the intersections closest to Brooks.
It would remove 12.5 spaces and add 11 parking spaces and two loading zones, for a net loss of two parking spaces. Unrestricted spaces, which anyone can use, would rise from 58 to 61.
The board had voted 5-2 on July 27 to remove 20 spaces with none added back. City staff had recommended removing four and adding two.
Construction is scheduled for 2027 alongside a planned repaving of Russell Road.
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Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
Ryan Belmore
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