Fairfax County is developing a “Slow Streets” pilot project to slow traffic and scale back cut-through traffic on a residential street in Springfield.
Supported by a federal grant accepted by the Board of Supervisors last week, the project will drop speeds at Cumberland Avenue and Dinwiddie Street to 15 mph from the current 25 mph and make changes to the street in an effort to calm traffic.
The location, near the Springfield Plaza shopping mall, has no sidewalks and sees an annual average daily traffic volume of 1,300 vehicles or fewer, making it a perfect candidate for a Slow Street program, county staff said in a summary for the board.
According to Ben Boxer, marketing and communications section chief for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation:
The temporary Slow Streets demonstration project on Cumberland Ave. and Dinwiddie St. in Springfield will be designed to encourage lower speeds and less cut-through traffic and increase the comfort of active transportation users (pedestrians and bicyclists) in that area.
The location was selected due to the lack of sidewalks along those streets and the high volume of pedestrians and bicyclists. Signage on these streets will discourage cut-through traffic and encourage speeds of no more than 15 MPH, and temporary materials, such as flex posts and planters will be used to calm traffic. These features will not impact local traffic, public and school bus services, emergency vehicles or service delivery vehicles.
Boxer says the plan is to begin public engagement this fall with project implementation targeted for summer or fall 2026, though that timeline may be adjusted.
Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, whose district includes Springfield, said in a newsletter that county staff will also start assessing current conditions on the roads this fall.
“The project is expected to begin this fall with an assessment of current conditions, including counts of vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles,” Lusk said. “The project team will evaluate data on speeds, traffic volumes, and behaviors (e.g., yielding rates and near-miss incidents), as well as the comfort levels of pedestrians and the traffic stress experienced by bicyclists.”
According to Lusk, slow street projects might work “as temporary solutions” to make walking and bicycling safer and more accessible in areas with limited space for more permanent improvements, such as expanded sidewalks or cycle tracks.
Once the pilot project is implemented, Lusk said the plan is to remove it by winter next year.
“Throughout and after the demonstration period, the project team will collect data to evaluate whether the implemented measures have had an impact on factors such as vehicle speeds and traffic volumes compared to pre-installation conditions,” Lusk said.
The pilot could be used as a template to see whether similar Slow Streets programs could be implemented elsewhere in Fairfax.
“This project will provide a valuable guide for similar potential projects which may be undertaken in the future,” Boxer said.
The project is estimated to cost $500,000. The money comes from the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, which recently awarded $1.6 million to Fairfax County.
Supplemented by a local match of $400,000, the $2 million in grant funds will also be used to develop a Complete Streets Design Guide and update the transportation section of Fairfax County’s Policy Plan, which guides planning and development decisions across the county.
The county has been working to update the Countywide Policy Plan since late 2022, releasing draft texts on land use, transportation, the environment, parks and recreation, and more in April. Public hearings on the amendment are scheduled for later this fall.
According to Boxer, FCDOT anticipates kicking off work on the Complete Streets Design Guide this fall as well:
Fairfax County has a diverse transportation network ranging from low-volume local roads to high-volume principal arterials. This project would create a countywide guide to balance the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists of the transportation network, with that of the transportation infrastructure and facilities and adjacent land uses. The Complete Streets Design Guide would reflect the best practices in Safe Streets for All design, accounting for safety, design, and functionality of the roadways with context-sensitive designs of adjacent land uses and inclusion of streetscapes, pathways, and wayfinding signage. Creating the Complete Streets Guide is a multi-year project anticipated to begin in the fall/winter 2025.
