By Brian Trompeter
Engineering work for a planned sidewalk on the even-numbered side of Melody Lane, S.W., will continue, all but one Vienna Town Council member concurred Feb. 27.
The lone opponent, Council member Nisha Patel, had tried to suspend those efforts on the grounds that a sidewalk in that location was not practicable and did not bolster safety on the street, and that the town was undertaking the project without residents’ input.
Patel’s motion to halt engineering work got a second for discussion purposes, but none of her colleagues supported the proposal in the final vote.
Council member Charles Anderson said the town already has advanced the project far along and there would need to be overwhelming evidence to stop the work, which so far has not materialized. Anderson said he would defer to town staff’s judgment on where the walkway should be placed.
Council member Steve Potter favored the proposal to put the sidewalk on Melody Lane’s even-numbered side, saying such walkways improve safety in the town.
“This, as many of the things that come before Council, is an emotional issue,” Potter said. “There are strong feelings on both sides – as Council members, we must make decisions on facts, not emotions, and it is our duty to focus on what is best for the community overall.”
The Council in November 2021 authorized the town’s Department of Public Works to initiate engineering reports for five streets – among them Melody Lane, S.W. – that would be financed from the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust.
Robinson, a former Council member who died in 2019, bequeathed $7 million to the town for sidewalk projects, on the condition that the projects hadn’t been planned already, would be executed in places with existing curb and gutter and were unlikely to be funded via other sources. Finally, the town would need to spend the funds within five years.
But sidewalks have been controversial in the town for decades, with adjacent residents often rallying not to have the walkways installed. This formerly happened on a piecemeal basis, but the Robinson funds have provided the financial means (and deadline) urgency to bring more such projects to the fore quickly.
In mid-November last year, the Town Council instructed the Department of Public Works to initiate final-design work for those five roadways, plus Pleasant Street, N.W.
Public-works officials engaged the town’s on-call engineering-services firm, Urban Ltd., to design a sidewalk for the even-numbered (east) side of Melody Lane, S.W., between Desale Street and Lullaby Lane.
Patel noted some residents on the street worried about drainage consequences and had signed a petition against the project. Some surrounding streets were missing sidewalk sections, she added.
Even before the Council voted on Patel’s motion to cease the engineering work, her proposal had received plenty of push-back from town staff.
The Department of Public Works favored continuing with the authorized work; the Finance Department warned the town might have to pay back the Robinson Trust for the $17,600 spent on the project so far; and the town attorney said the engineering firm also would have to be compensated for services rendered to date.
The Melody Lane project meets all town qualifications and town staff chose not to put the walkway on the odd-numbered side of the street because of grading, drainage and tree concerns there, said acting Public Works Director Christine Horner. Town staff are seeking to have the sidewalk built adjacent to the curb to minimize yard impacts and can narrow the path’s width to 4 feet to avoid utility poles, she said.
