Arlington County set up the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program in the late nineties. The goal of the program is to increase pedestrian and bicylist safety and change the culture of neighborhood street use from "cars first" to "people first." The County Board appointed a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee (NTCC) – a citizen advisory group which meets semiannually to review requests submitted by neighborhoods for traffic calming measures. Using criteria approved by the County Board, the committee selects locations with the highest-ranking scores in terms of speed and volume problems and works with residents to develop solutions.

This program has several glaring weaknesses:

• Despite rhetorical support for a comprehensive neighborhood approach to traffic issues, NTC funds projects on a street-by-street basis. This approach runs the risk of solving one street's problems at the expense of additional problems for nearby streets.
• The program is severely under-funded.
In the FY 2000 bond, $2.4 million was approved for Traffic Calming, with $350,000 for PAYGO for the two years of the bond period, and $1.7 million for capital projects for the 2 year period. Many of the "self-enforcing" features of traffic calming – narrowing of streets through construction of medians or gateways or construction of landscaped traffic circles – are very expensive. County staff estimated that the cost of just one block of median on Little Falls would be $242,000! Given the many Arlington streets that need such measures, $1.7 million spread over two years is clearly inadequate.
• Arlington County Staff – not the residents – determines the severity of the problem.
• The program is designed for neighborhood streets. Many of the most dangerous risks facing pedestrians in our community are on arterial streets, including one (Little Falls Road) that has an elementary school.

On the other hand, the NTC program offers several benefits:

• $$: As limited as the funding may be, NTCC does have its own budget, so it represents an alternative to the Neighborhood Conservation program.
• The program provides a mechanism to publicize problem streets and lobby for County action, including more resources for traffic calming.

For these reasons, our community needs to take advantage of the NTC program and request traffic calming when pedestrian safety is a risk on neighborhood streets. So far, residents of several streets in our civic association have requested traffic calming.

• The County accepted one street for its Fall 2001 funding round: Powhatan Street between the traffic circle and the County line.
• In 2003, the County accepted another street – Little Falls Road between Harrison and Lexington.

How It Works

Identify the Problem: If cut-through traffic and/or speeding and/or stop sign running is a problem on your street or a street you use, you can request NTC assistance. If you prefer, you can ask the Civic Association to make the request.NTC will then follow up with a questionnaire, covering:

• Name(s) of Requester(s), contact information, and length of time in residence
• Description of the problem
• Specific location(s) of traffic problem(s)
• Time of day when problem occurs
• Dates/times of accidents (reportable and non-reportable)
• When the problem started
• Possible causes of the problem?
• Any perceived dangers to pedestrians, residents, property as a result of the problem (opinion)
• Results residents hope to achieve (i.e., reduced speed, lower traffic volume, fewer accidents, lower risks to pedestrians, etc.)
• Names, addresses, phone numbers of nearby residents who share the concerns

Arlington County Staff Members Define Scope of the Problem: Using the completed questionnaire, Staff inspects the area and reviews other information such as road and land-use maps to identify technical issues and to clarify their understanding of the problem from the requester’s perspective. Specifically, Staff will:

• Identify affected streets and intersections
• Identify users of affected streets and intersections (stakeholders)
• Identify traffic generators
• Analyze street use with respect to street classification
• Document any other factors which might contribute to the problem

Data Collection:

• Traffic Counts Speeding Studies (classifier, police radar, etc.)
• Origin/Destination Studies
• Resident Opinion Surveys
• Field observations
• Other, to be identified as needed

Next Steps, If Staff Does Not Believe the Data Supports a Problem: Staff will send a report to the NTCC with the results of the data and recommend that no action be taken by the NTCC. The situation will be eligible for reevaluation by the NTCC after a two-year waiting period. Staff will report back to the original requester, the civic association (if any), and the NCAC representative (if any), and any other individuals who have made their interest known to NTCC by letter or petition that the problem did not warrant any specific action by the NTCC or Staff. If this response is not satisfactory, the citizens may request that the NTCC put the issue on its agenda for a brief presentation by the proponents in a future meeting. Additionally, as part of the on-going programmatic review of the NTC and the appeals processes, all problems for which measures have not been implemented by NTCC may be reviewed at a later time to determine whether the NTC thresholds and criteria are too narrow or the process breaks down in certain areas.

Next Steps: If Staff Believes the Data Confirms a Problem: Staff will prepare a problem report including:

• Date request for help received
• Name(s) of requester(s) and contact information
• Problem Inventory (specific locations, times or day, etc.)
• Dates/times of accidents (reportable and non-reportable)
• Traffic Data Analysis (details attached)
• Causes of problems
• Risks to pedestrians, residents, property as a result of the problem
• Geographic scope and boundaries
• Potential Solutions
• Names, addresses, phone numbers of nearby residents who share the concerns
• List of people willing to work with the NTCC to solve problems
• Date and time for meeting to discuss potential solutions and community role (if applicable)

Community Discussion of Problems and NTC Measures:The NTCC representative and Staff will meet with the original requesters and an civic association representative (if any) to discuss possible courses of action. The initial meeting will have the following purposes:

• Educate citizens about the process Review the collected data
• Discuss applicable NTC measures and requirements for each
• Review process for achieving consensus on NTC measures
• Formation of a working group which should included a representative from the relevant civic association(s).

Community Action Plan: The community working group developes a proposed plan of action. This can be as simple as a single traffic calming measure or as complicated as a neighborhood-wide plan.

NTCC Review of Community Action Plan: To assess community support, Staff will prepare the following materials to mail to the affected households:

• Letter explaining the proposed action plan and announcing a community meeting
• Maps and diagrams explaining what the proposed measures will look like and where each will be located.
• Level of response and support required for NTCC approval of plan.
• Postage-paid return card with the resident’s name, address, required signature line, and a "yes" or "no" box to be checked, as well as space for comments.

If the required post cards are returned indicating the appropriate percentage of support as specified in the toolbox, the project will be eligible for funding under the NTCC program.

If an insufficient number of households respond within four weeks, members of the community working group assigned to that particular project will follow-up with those neighbors who failed to return their cards. Support of the civic association(s) and local PTA is not required but is strongly encouraged.

If the response is sufficient but negative toward the proposal, the NTCC will recommend either that the problem be referred back to the community outreach phase or that it be closed out as irreconcilable. If the project is referred back to the community, the NTCC may recommend alternative approaches, more likely to meet with community acceptance. In the case of projects failing to receive support and being closed out, the NTCC will determine a minimum waiting period of three years – before the problem or problems may be resubmitted for NTCC assistance

Project Funding: Prior to full NTCC discussion, its rankings subcommittee, working with County Staff, will assign points to each eligible project under the NTCC project priority ranking guidelines subject to review by the full NTCC. The proposed ranking system gives priority to speeding and volume, and assigns points for every reported, traffic calming- related accident. Additional points are given to projects on streets used by bicyclists and transit riders, with facilities that generate substantial amounts of pedestrian traffic, and with conditions leading to increased hazards. Further preference is given to projects that demonstrate high levels of community support. Recommended projects funded through bond issues will be referred to the County Board for approval of funding; projects recommended for funding through operational accounts will be referred to the County Manager. Projects not recommended for NTC funding, for whatever reason, may be eligible for other funding sources, such as the Neighborhood Conservation Program and will be referred back to the community to investigate other funding sources. They also may remain on the NTC eligible projects list for subsequent funding sessions.

Project Implementation: Once a project has been approved and funded, Staff performs the following actions:

• Preliminary engineering to determine scope of work
• Perform site survey
• Develop detailed construction drawings after the conceptual plan is agreed to by the neighborhood
• Acquire rights of way and easements
• Schedule construction either by County Staff or contractor
• Notify affected residents of construction schedule
• Execute construction
• Install landscaping treatments
• Repair any damage to private property

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