Resolution on Little Falls Sidewalks

On 27 March 2001, the Williamsburg Civic Association approved the following Little Falls Project:

• - Create raised, planted median strips (at least 10 - 14 feet wide) on Little Falls Road from the Williamsburg Traffic Circle to North Ohio Street and from Nottingham Street to Lexington Street, with two to three cut-outs (as needed).
• Paint eight-foot parking lanes and five-foot bike lanes on pavement between Williamsburg Traffic Circle and North Kensington, marking lanes in such a way as to discourage parking in close proximity to driveways.
• Install at-grade patterned crosswalks at both sides of the intersection of Ohio and Little Falls Road.

Arlington County later indicated that the Safe Routes to School program would be used fill in the missing sidewalk on Little Falls Road opposite Nottingham Elementary School and running east to John Marshall. The initial design called for the sidewalk to replace much of the front lawns, mature trees, and shrubs of the four homeowners on the block between Nottingham and John Marshall. Discussions between the homeowners and Charles Denney (from Arlington's Department of Public Works) led to a compromise proposal for the block between Nottingham and John Marshall.

The compromise involves constructing the sidewalk in what is currently roadway, taking only about a foot of lawn from the four homes. This proposal reduces the median to about 8 feet. The compromise also includes aligning the curb on the east side of the intersection of Little Falls Road and John Marshall Drive to improve visibility.

This proposal has the following advantages:

• The eight-foot median would still allow planting of large trees in the median, according to Jill Yutan (Landscape Architect at the County's Office of Neighborhood Services, who will be responsible for the landscaping of this project).
• It will avoid removal of mature trees, shrubs, and lawn green space on these four properties, which is consistent with the County's goal of enhancing the tree canopy and our community preference for plants and lawn over concrete.
• It is consistent with the wishes of all four homeowners.
• It is supported by County Public Works staff as fully workable and creating a traffic flow pattern which more naturally follows the current contours of LF Rd going West on that particular stretch.
• The curbs on the north side of Little Falls Road at John Marshall Drive are currently offset by approximately six feet. This misalignment creates a problem for drivers coming from the north side of John Marshall Drive, since they must pull into the lane of traffic traveling west on Little Falls Road. Altering the curb alignment on both corners of this intersection will help to mitigate this problem.
• Adoption of this compromise would speed implementation of the entire Little Falls project - our first major NC project from the Neighborhood Conservation Plan begun over five years ago. Completion of this project in a timely manner would provide a return for the many hundreds of volunteer hours expended on the Neighborhood Conservation Plan since 1997.

For these reasons, the Williamsburg Civic Association endorses the compromise proposal and urges the County staff to expedite design work on the overall Little Falls Project.

We also urge County staff to work with the two homeowners in the block opposite Nottingham School to come up with a workable compromise that would construct sidewalk out of the current parking lane and thus avoid loss of green space and several mature trees.

Approved unanimously on 25 June 2002 at the membership meeting of the Williamsburg Civic Association.

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