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Route 1 speed limit change put on hold
The Virginia Department of Transportation has put off lowering speed limits along Richmond Highway (Route 1) after members of the county Board of Supervisors complained of a lack of communication between VDOT and affected parties.
“To our knowledge, there was no communication between VDOT and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation,” said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland (D) in a board matter presented at the end of last month.
VDOT's recommendation to lower the speed limits comes in the wake of its 2007 Northern Virginia Traffic Engineering Study, which calculated that on the county's 12 miles of Route 1, between July 2004 and July 2007, 2,233 crashes, 1,255 injuries and 17 fatalities were reported. The study covers 40 intersections and 30 miles of Route 1 in both Fairfax and Prince William counties.
Enforcement would reduce the speed limit from the City of Alexandria to the intersection at Old Mill Road from 45 mph to 35 mph, and reduce the stretch between Old Mill Road and Furnace Road from 50 mph to 45 mph.
In a board matter that was unanimously approved, Hyland said VDOT did not advise local police or residential groups of the proposal, and that the board was unaware of contact between VDOT and state delegates and senators whose jurisdiction falls under the affected property.
“This is not how a public agency should operate when it considers making a change affecting thousands of drivers on a daily basis,” Hyland said.
VDOT spokesman Mike Salmon said the only meeting held with the county on the issue was on Nov. 1, 2007, telling county transportation officials that the speed limit reduction had been approved and would be implemented on March 10, 2008.
“That's when the supervisors found out and they were wondering why they weren't in the loop,” said Salmon, who acknowledged that no public meetings or hearings on the subject had been held.
At the behest of the board, County Executive Tony Griffin wrote a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer, laying out a meeting this week between himself and VDOT District Administrator Mortza Salehi.
“Also, right now we are going through the process, completing plans for outreach to the community, making appointments and scheduling meetings before we make a final determination, and based on the input we get, then making a move,” Salmon said.
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