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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria will receive $160,000 in technical assistance for a citywide bicycle network analysis and a safety study along Mount Vernon Avenue after the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board approved the awards at its meeting Wednesday in Washington.
The board signed off on $980,000 across 12 local planning projects through two regional programs — the Transportation Land-Use Connections (TLC) Program and the Regional Roadway Safety Program (RRSP). Alexandria drew funding under both, with its awards split evenly between the two. As previewed Tuesday, every funded project this year is in Maryland or Virginia.
Alexandria also holds a seat at the head of the board: City Council member Canek Aguirre serves as the TPB's 2nd vice chair, part of a leadership slate alongside Chair Neil Harris of Gaithersburg and Vice Chair Matthew Frumin of the District of Columbia.
Bicycle network gap analysis
The first award, $80,000 through the TLC Program, funds a Bicycle Network Gap Analysis and Conceptual Design for the city. A consultant will evaluate Alexandria's existing and planned network, catalog and rank the gaps between facilities, assess connectivity to key destinations, and recommend prioritized improvements with concept-level plans.
The work builds on the 2021 Alexandria Mobility Plan and its goal of a connected bike network — on-street and off-street — that serves riders of all ages and abilities. Alexandria's grant was one of six approved through the program, alongside projects in Charles, Montgomery, Arlington and Prince William counties and the city of Rockville. The TLC Program awarded $480,000 in all and has now funded 191 projects worth more than $9.2 million since 2007.
Bicycle Network Gap Analysis and Conceptual Design
City of Alexandria, $80,000
The City of Alexandria will evaluate their bicycle network to identify gaps between facilities and to identify existing facilities that do not align with existing design guidance for intersection treatments. This study builds upon the 2021 Alexandria Mobility Plan’s (AMP) strategy to build out a connected bicycle network of both on- and off-street facilities that serves riders of all ages and abilities. The consultant will evaluate the existing and planned network, identify and categorize network gaps, assess connectivity to key destinations, and recommend prioritized improvements including concept-level plans.
A second push on Mount Vernon Avenue
The second award, $80,000 through the RRSP, funds a Mount Vernon Avenue Corridor Study between Glendale Avenue and Leadbeater Street. The study will produce prioritized safety recommendations, conceptual designs for safety countermeasures, an evaluation of potential slow zones and community engagement — positioning the city to pursue near-term tactical fixes and funding for permanent upgrades.
The corridor study runs parallel to the Mount Vernon Avenue North Intersection Improvements project, which the city's Transportation Commission took up the same evening for a SMART SCALE grant bid. Together, the two efforts mark a sustained push on a corridor Alexandria has studied since 2016.
The roadway safety program approved $500,000 for six projects this round. A review panel initially recommended four; Maryland and Virginia each agreed to fund an additional project, bringing the total to six. Alexandria's Mount Vernon Avenue study was among the four originally recommended. Established in 2020, the RRSP has now awarded more than $2 million across 32 projects.
Mount Vernon Avenue Corridor Study
City of Alexandria, $80,000
The Alexandria project will assess the conditions for safety improvements along Mount Vernon Avenue between Glendale Avenue and Leadbeater Street. The study will result in prioritized safety recommendations, conceptual designs for safety countermeasures, evaluation of potential slow zones, and community engagement. The city will then be equipped to implement near-term tactical improvements and pursue funding for permanent infrastructure upgrades.
Alexandria as a study site
Alexandria also figures into a third approved project. A Montgomery County-led study, "Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons in Context," will collect data at 18 pedestrian hybrid beacon locations across Montgomery County, Arlington County and Alexandria. The $80,000 effort will measure driver yield rates, pedestrian activation rates and how device placement and signal phasing affect compliance, with the aim of pinpointing regional best practices for the beacons across different roadway and land-use settings.
What's next
TPB staff will now coordinate with the jurisdictions to finalize project scopes and begin selecting consultants, with the work expected to wrap by June 30, 2027.
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