By Brian Trompeter
Before heading off for a long summer break – they next will meet Aug. 26 – Vienna Town Council members on July 8 approved several more sidewalk projects to be financed by the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust.
• The Council approved a $294,835 contract with A&M Concrete Corp. to build sidewalks on the south (odd-numbered) side of Lullaby Lane, S.E., between Tapawingo Road and Harmony Drive, S.W., and the west (odd-numbered) side of Harmony Drive, S.W., from Lullaby Lane, S.E., to the end of the street. Those projects will result in a total of 820 linear feet of concrete sidewalks.
The contract also will result in construction of a 600-linear-foot concrete sidewalk along the west (odd-numbered) side of Johnson Street, S.W., from Glen Avenue to the end of the street.
The Council approved this project 4-1 on a separate vote (members Sandra Allen and Jessica Ramakis were absent from the meeting). Council member Roy Baldwin cast the nay vote, citing objections he had received from residents living along Johnson Street.
“I believe that the neighborhood itself is very quiet and secluded and this is an area that does not need a sidewalk,” he said.
Mayor Linda Colbert sympathized with residents, but said the town’s comprehensive plan calls for sidewalks on at least one side of every street. The Johnson Street walkway would not serve only the residents living there, she added.
• Council members also voted 5-0 to award a $264,368 contract to Sagres Construction Corp. to build concrete sidewalks along the west (even-numbered) sides of St. Andrews Drive, N.E., and St. Bernard Drive, N.E., from Westbriar Drive to Maple Avenue.
The St. Andrews Drive sidewalk will be 750 linear feet and the one on St. Bernard Drive 650 linear feet.
Baldwin mentioned a St. Bernard Drive resident’s concerns about potential losses of cherry trees along that sidewalk’s route, and inquired whether the town could meander the sidewalk around those trees.
Vienna Public Works Director Brad Baer responded that town officials try to accommodate residents’ concerns, but this not always is possible.
• The Council unanimously approved a $591,963 contract with Stonebridge Civil LLC to build concrete sidewalks along 900 linear feet of Courthouse Road, S.W., from Maple Avenue to Locust Street, and on Pleasant Street, N.W., from Maple Avenue to a point 200 feet north.
Both projects will involve installation of reinforced-concrete retaining walls with brick facing.
Flower-Bed Installations Thwarted American Legion’s Usual Holiday Flag Displays: Vienna’s holiday events are designed to – and typically do – foster goodwill in the community.
This summer was less-than-satisfactory, however, for Dyer-Gunnell American Legion Post 180, because flower-bed installations being done along Maple Avenue kept the post from lining the roadway with U.S. flags, Post Cmdr. David Wallace told the Vienna Town Council July 8.
The construction work affected the post’s usual displays on Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July, he said.
Wallace cited a passage from “Vienna Stories: 1950-2000,” a book written by the town’s former longtime public-information officer Marie Kisner, that stated the flag-planting tradition began as Post 180’s response to the March on Washington for Peace in Vietnam on Nov. 27, 1965.
“As newly elected post commander, one of my top priorities is to continue this cherished tradition within the town of Vienna,” said Wallace, a 20-year U.S. Navy veteran. “The flag symbolizes one of the four pillars of the American Legion: Americanism. The sight of our flag flying proudly is a source of immense pride.”
Wallace suggested the post instead could fly flags high up on Maple Avenue’s light poles, which would allow them to be illuminated according to U.S. Flag Code standards. The post would be willing to provide the town with the necessary hardware and flags to do so, he said.
“I hope this request is given serious consideration and approval,” Wallace said. “We must preserve this town of Vienna tradition and ensure that our flag continues to wave proudly during all patriotic observances.”
Council members expressed sympathy for the post’s plight.
Signal Devices Boosting Safety, Speeding Up Response Times: A newly installed Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) system on all 15 of the town of Vienna’s traffic signals is proving beneficial to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department and the community it serves, the department’s chief told the Vienna Town Council July 8.
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in 2020 gave the town two EVP devices to install at Maple Avenue’s intersections with Center Street and Lawyers/Courthouse roads, said Vienna Volunteer Fire Chief John Morrison.
The Vienna Town Council in 2021 used American Rescue Plan Act funding to purchase similar equipment for the 13 remaining traffic signals, he said.
“The town staff has really been outstanding in doing this,” Morrison said.
Crews on fire engines, ambulances and chief’s vehicles activate transmitters that turn traffic signals green in the direction where they’re heading. This allows not only better incident-response times along Maple Avenue – Morrison estimated a 10-percent improvement – but makes intersections safer, he said.
“Rather than us going through a red light and competing with people who are looking at green lights, the lights for them turn red and we get green lights as we go through,” Morrison said. “It makes it safer for us to go through this town.”
All fire-department vehicles in the county now are equipped with EVP devices.
“Now you can go from McLean almost to the city of Fairfax and never hit a red light when you have one of these devices,” he said, noting that the equipment benefits not only Vienna’s first-responders but ones from around the area who need to travel into or through the town.
Morrison thanked the Council for obtaining the funds needed to equip the traffic signals.
“It was not a trivial amount of money to invest, but it is a great investment in this community,” he said.
