Study Underway for Safety Fixes to Shreve Road in Falls Church Area

(Updated at 6:25 p.m.) Locals way have to wait a little longer than expected for safety solutions along Shreve Road in the Falls Church area due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The road, which runs through the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County, has lately been the focus of safety concerns from local residents and the Shreve Road Community Working Group.

A study is underway by the Virginia Department of Transportation to address the road’s issues. Allison Richter, the liaison to Fairfax and Arlington counties for VDOT, gave an update on the study during a virtual town hall on Monday (May 4).

“We expect there are going to be some solutions that will have to take a little longer,” she said.

Richter said that the COVID-19 pandemic and Virginia’s stay-at-home order have hampered data collection.

“[VDOT is] not doing traffic counts because it’s not as it normally is,” she said. “We’re a little bit held back in some of our studies.”

Status of Projects Along Shreve Road 

So far, the traffic engineering group has reviewed and replaced “obsolete signs,” Richter said.

Dalia Palchik, the Providence District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said during the meeting that the county is waiting for contractors to finish work near the intersection of Shreve Road and Virginia Lane.

Additionally, she said NoVa Parks is working with an engineer to address work at the W&OD Trail crossing and Shreve Road.

Palchik said that drivers should keep an eye out for lane closures near Gordon Road and Route 7 due to pipe installation.

Providence District School Board Member Karl Frisch said in his email newsletter today that 10 new parking spots have been added to Shrevewood Elementary School.

“Weather permitting, phase two will begin on May 15. When completed, about 17 new spots will have been added,” Frisch said.

Palchik said that the meeting that the new spaces will “help get the cars off of Shreve and into the school.”

Next Steps for Safety Solutions

The study is aiming to identify short- and long-term solutions, along with areas where upgrades are needed and people have continually reported issues, Richter said.

VDOT has lowered the speed from 35 to 30 miles per hour from Leesburg Pike (Route 7) to Wieland Place. Richter said that calls from residents to reduce the speed further to 25 miles per hour is still a possibility.

“I’m not going to rule that out, but we’ll also be looking at other measures like increasing enforcement or traffic calming tools,” she said, adding that a speed study was done in 2019.

People can expect the final report sometime in November, according to Richter’s presentation.

Public Support Sought for Grant Application

The Shreve Road Community Working Group’s website notes that people can submit comments on a grant application to Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA).

According to the group’s website, the $6.9 million transportation grant would be used to:

• install a 10-foot multi-use path and 6-foot planting strip along Shreve Road
• add a crosswalk near the intersection of Shreve and Gordon roads
• add a landscape buffer and lighting changes

People have until May 24 to submit comments online or via email at [email protected].

Image via Google Maps