ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Five streets in Alexandria, Virginia will see lower speed limits later this year.
According to the City of Alexandria, the new speed limits were unanimously recommended by the City’s Traffic and Parking Board before it was approved by City Manager Jim Parajon.
The roads impacted include:
- North Beauregard Street: Entire Length
- Reduce the posted speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour and reduce the school zone speed limit from 25 to 15 miles per hour.
- West Braddock Road: North Beauregard Street to Quaker Lane
- Reduce the posted speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour and reduce the school zone speed limit from 25 to 15 miles per hour.
- North Howard Street: Lynn House Driveway to Braddock Road
- Reduce the school zone speed limit on North Howard Street from 25 to 15 miles per hour.
- Seminary Road: Kenmore Avenue to North Pickett Street
- Reduce the school zone speed limit from 25 to 15 miles per hour.
- King Street: Radford Street to Quincy Street
- Install a new 15-mile-per-hour school zone speed limit.
"These are streets where we have a lot of contention between pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists" said Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson
Mayor Wilson tells WUSA9 "we have actually very few streets in the City of Alexandria where the speed limit exceeds 25 miles per hour".
According to a release from the City of Alexandria, officials have heard from residents and neighborhood groups across Alexandria that vehicle speed is a major concern.
"Speed is a critical factor in how often crashes occur and how severe those crashes are," the release reads.
Officials claim there have been more than 500 crashes in the impacted corridors since 2015, including 20 deadly or severe crashes, and more than 250 people have been injured during that time.
The City of Alexandria says the speed limit reduction is especially important in urban areas where people walk, bike and drive.
"The likelihood of a person being killed or seriously injured when struck at 35 miles per hour is significantly higher than if that person is struck at 25 miles per hour or 15 miles per hour," officials said in the release.
For those concerned about the impact this will have on neighboring streets, Mayor Wilson tells WUSA9 "we have regulations in place to try to reduce the attractiveness of cut through traffic. As it is, we have very few streets that are above 25 to begin with and during rush hour they're congested as is. So, we don't think there's going to be a major impact, but certainly gonna watch the impact on other streets to make sure we don't exacerbate some of those cut through challenges."
All of this comes as the City Of Alexandria plans to install speed cameras in five school zones. The exact locations haven't been chosen yet. They are expected to be up and running in 2023.
The Mayor says you should notice the changes to speed limit signs soon.
Advocates of reducing the speed limit say more needs to be done to protect pedestrians on streets in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.