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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The director of Alexandria's Department of Transportation and Environmental Services has rejected both the Traffic and Parking Board's recommendation on Russell Road and the recommendation her own staff brought to that board, and has instead proposed a third design.
In a letter to the board dated Aug. 7, Director Leah Riley wrote that she had determined a new alternative would "significantly improve pedestrian safety while balancing neighborhood concerns," and would also satisfy the board's request that staff find additional parking for Naomi Brooks Elementary School.
The letter is required by city code. When the board's recommendation does not fully support the action a director intends to take, the code directs the director to notify the board in writing of the decision and the reasoning behind it, and to make that explanation public.
Riley started as T&ES director on March 30, the department's third leadership transition since longtime director Yon Lambert left to become deputy city manager in January 2023. She came from the District of Columbia's Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and previously led the Portland Bureau of Transportation and served as managing deputy commissioner at the Chicago Department of Transportation.
What Alternative C would do
The plan would install painted curb extensions at four intersections along Russell Road — at West Myrtle, West Chapman, West Oak and West Maple streets — and median refuge islands at two more, at West Masonic View Avenue and West Walnut Street.
Riley wrote that placing the islands at the intersections closest to Brooks concentrates the stronger crossing treatment where pedestrian activity is heaviest.
That is a middle position between the two plans that came before it. City staff had recommended curb extensions at all six intersections and no islands. The board voted for the amount of parking removal associated with Concept 2, which would have put islands at three intersections and curb extensions at the other three.
The parking math
Alternative C would remove 13 on-street parking spaces and add 13, for a net loss of two — the same net figure staff had recommended in July, but reached differently.
The removals: five spaces on the 400 block of Russell Road, five on the 500 block, one on the 700 block and two on the 800 block.
The additions are the significant change. Riley's plan would add five unrestricted spaces on the 600 block, directly in front of Brooks, along with two loading and unloading spaces the school requested for parents and visitors needing short-term access, and six spaces on Johnston Place.
Counted across the ten blocks from Summers Drive to West Cedar Street plus Johnston Place, total parking would rise from 122 spaces to 128. Unrestricted spaces would rise from 58 to 61.
By comparison, the board's recommendation would have cut the total to 102 spaces and unrestricted spaces to 49.
Riley wrote that T&ES developed the additions working with the Fire Department and Brooks leadership to identify changes that support school operations while maintaining emergency access, and that the department has received written support for Alternative C from the school's principal.
The teacher parking question
Staff parking at Brooks, which has no lot of its own, was the central objection during the spring comment period and at the July 27 hearing. Teachers wrote that removing on-street parking would make it materially harder to get to work.
City staff had responded by adding two spaces on the 600 block. The board's motion removed those two spaces from the plan and instead directed staff to return later with proposals for school employee parking.
Alternative C addresses it directly, adding seven spaces on the block in front of the school and six more on Johnston Place, a block west of Brooks.
A question about process
Riley wrote that the parking additions will come to the board in September for consideration, but that the removals "were considered by the Board during the July 27 meeting and will not be brought forth a second time."
The removal list in her letter does not match what the board approved. The board voted to remove four spaces on the 300 block, six on the 400, six on the 500, one on the 700 and three on the 800. Riley's plan removes five on the 400, five on the 500, one on the 700 and two on the 800, and nothing on the 300 block.
Every removal in Alternative C is smaller than or equal to what the board approved for that block, and the plan drops one block entirely.
Lauritzen, who made the July 27 motion, said on Bluesky Saturday that they needed more time to consider Alternative C but that their initial reaction was that T&ES was making the wrong decision. They wrote that the department misrepresents the board's instruction to work with the school, and that its action seriously undermines trust among stakeholders who supported Concept 2.
What comes next
City code allows the board's action to be appealed to City Council by a group submitting a petition signed by at least 25 city property owners or residents. City Clerk Gloria Sitton confirmed this week that the deadline for an appeal of the July 27 board action is Aug. 11, counted in calendar days from the vote, and that no petition had been filed as of Aug. 4.
The code also allows an appeal to be filed within 15 days of a director's notice of alternative action. The Alexandria Brief has asked the clerk's office whether Riley's Aug. 7 letter opens a second window.
Riley wrote that the updated concepts will be posted to the project website. Construction remains scheduled for 2027, alongside a planned repaving of Russell Road.
Further reading
Ryan Belmore
