Arterial Transportation Management (ATM) Study
ATM Task Force Draft Meeting Summary
July 24 (Thursday) 7:30 P.M.
County Board Room, Court House Plaza

Introductions:
Mr. Richard Best from the Department of Public Works welcomed the Task Force Members and interested residents to the ATM Kick off Meeting.

Chairman's Remarks:
Mr. Ed Fendley thanked the various members for their interest and stated that he has been appointed by the Transportation Commission to lead the Task Force and the citizen process. He focused on safety as his primary interest with this study and was greatly concerned with pedestrian travel on arterial street corridors, stating his goal was to make pedestrian travel safer within Arlington County.

Project Overview:
Mr. Best stated that the County has contracted with Kimley-Horn and Associates a national consultant company with local offices in Northern VA, and introduced the Consultant Team: Mr. John Martin as the Project Manager and two of his team members Mr. Roger Henderson and Mr. Matt Sellers. The purpose of this project is to examine future travel levels, develop a new street functional classification system, and to develop strategies and measures for managing transportation along arterial roads. These measures and strategies for selected streets will be developed through a community participation process and are intended to be applicable elsewhere. The planning process would embrace traffic safety, pedestrian and transit access and bicycle issues in the county. The process would seek to provide citizens and the County with a framework for arterial roads that are multi-modal and fit better in the communities they serve.

Scope Detail:
Mr. Martin stated his team was in the initial phases of the ATM preview that includes: national and international traffic management experiences, traffic forecasts, and screenline analysis for the various arterial corridors within the County. Additional tasks include recommending a redefinition of Arlington's street functional classification system, ATM Toolbox outlining various arterial traffic management measures, a citizen participation model, an outline of an overall ATM program, and preliminary design for various arterial corridors within Arlington. After the initial phase is completed the task force and the team will produce a draft toolbox to be used in three design workshops on various arterial roadways selected by the Transportation Commission. These design studies will include an application toolbox, initial workshop, corridor assessment, community walkthrough, feedback workshop, and plans and recommendations for three corridors which will receive a full community process and eight other corridors that will receive a staff and task force overview. After the design application is completed, the team will draft various ATM procedures including a process model, priority ranking approach, resource guide, and implementation strategies. This effort will then drive the development of a final ATM toolbox and a preliminary ATM Program to be reviewed by various county advisory groups and finally by the County Board to produce a ATM program.

Task Force Charge:
As outlined by Mr. Fendley and Mr. Best, the ATM Task Force is created as an advisory body to the Arlington County Transportation Commission. The mission of the ATM Task Force is to provide advice and recommendations to the Transportation Commission and County Staff on arterial traffic management issues within Arlington County as requested by the Transportation Commission and lead staff. The Task Force shall be comprised of up to 16 members. Members of the Task Force shall perform their duties within the parameters of this charge and the periodic direction from the Arlington County Transportation Commission and the County Staff. Members of the Task Force are expected to perform their duties and responsibilities relating to issues regarding arterial transportation management and general traffic safety by drawing upon the members' experience and expertise about the issues, from individual and community wide perspectives.

Round Table by Task Force Members:
The group had a round table discussion lead by Mr. Fendley that started with the task force members and concluded with staff. Members gave their expectations of study and thoughts on arterial management. Many of the members focused on safety issues and dealing with VDOT. There was also some concern on the amount of time it takes the County to complete various projects and studies. Staff told the Task Force this study was a top priority and that staff was looking forward to working with the Task Force, residents, and various other interested groups on this exciting study.

Consultant Overview of the Study Corridors:
Mr. Martin gave an overview of the various street sections that were included in the study, he noted he and his team had walked and driven all the study corridors with staff and his team. This walk-through included three national New Urbanism experts: Dan Burden from Walkable Communities, Ian Lockwood from Glatting Jackson Inc., and Jim Daisa from Kimley-Horn. Three of the corridors will include a 15% Design Study with a full community participation process (Wilson Boulevard, Carlin Springs Road, and Four Mile Run Drive). The other eight corridors will include a 5% Concept Design (North Harrison Street, Arlington Ridge Road, Columbia Pike, Military Road, North Sycamore Street, Washington Boulevard, Walter Reed Drive, Clarendon Boulevard).

State of the Practice for ATM Programs:
Mr. Henderson gave an overview of Street Functional Classification highlighting the current (traditional Federal Highway format) and the rethinking of street classification with a new urban approach. Various new ideas in street classification include Context Sensitive Design, linking land use with transportation and street typographies. These alternative methods focus on the various street activities and land use interaction and not moving vehicles and capacity issues. Mr. Henderson noted the team would research various models and present a street type that would fit Arlington's current thinking on transportation and land use. The team then outlined what various other cities, counties and states that were thinking about arterial management highlighting Portland, Raleigh, West Plam Beach, Charlotte, Denver, Santa Clara and Toronto.

Public Participation Process Model:
Mr. Martin outlined the public participation process; stating it included the Task Force, Project Web Page, Citizen Group for the three corridors, transportation Commission Review, and ultimately the County Board.

Wrap-Up/Meeting Schedule:
Mr. Fendley advised on monthly meetings, starting in September and meeting on the third Thursday of every month. The Task Force also discussed the three study corridors and staff will be working with Ed Fendley on establishing dates for these meetings.

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