I hope all of you had an enjoyable summer. Seminary Hill Association took our usual summer break from board meetings, but we will resume our normal schedule starting this Thursday, September 12th at 7:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting is found at the bottom of this email. We will have a presentation on the ACPS plans to address the high school capacity issue and the options that the School Board will consider on September 26th.

Though we have not had formal board meetings over the summer months, your board members have been busy engaging in the debate regarding the lane reductions on Seminary Road that are being promoted by some in our community, and others outside our community as well.

On Saturday, September 14th, the protracted debate about the future configuration of Seminary Road will come to an end at the City Council Public Hearing. City Council will decide whether to put a portion of Seminary Road on what is called a "road diet”. In this case, that means removing 50% of the car travel lanes by reducing the number of lanes from 4 lanes to 2, with a center lane for left turns only. Bike lanes would be added under this proposal.

Seminary Hill Association (SHA) has advocated for retaining 4 lanes on Seminary since the City first proposed a road diet for Seminary. SHA responded to resident concerns about safety by advocating for 2 additional pedestrian-activated crosswalks and increased speed enforcement. SHA wants speed reduction, but not lane reduction. In June, the Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board (TPB) rejected the city’s preferred alternative and voted 3-2 to recommend to City Council that Seminary Road remain a 4-lane road, with the addition of 2 new HAWK pedestrian-activated crosswalks, as SHA has supported. The City Council will vote on this proposal on Saturday, but following an appeal filed by 25 residents, they will also have the opportunity to vote on the road diet proposal if they choose to impose that on Seminary Road.

SHA began this effort because many of our residents were opposed to the city's plans for Seminary Road and asked us to take a stand. Over the course of the summer, SHA has been joined by an unprecedented 12 additional civic associations whose members also questioned the process that has brought this matter before City Council. It has been so encouraging to see such a grassroots alliance of concerned citizens come together to express our views to our elected officials. Just last week, the Alexandria Federation of Civic Associations also endorsed the recommendation of TPB to maintain 4 lanes on Seminary. We appreciate all the input and hard work by residents who have been concerned with the effort to place road diet on a major arterial east-west route.

Yet, proponents of the lane reductions accuse those wanting to retain the 4 lanes of car travel of not caring about safety. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the safety of all our residents has been, and will continue to be, SHA's priority. Staff and bike lobby groups have dismissed studies that refute claims that road diet is a proven method to deal with safety issues on high volume roads, and refuse to study or acknowledge negative safety impacts on our neighborhood streets due to increased cut-through traffic from peak hour congestion on Seminary Road.

According to the city’s own data, this stretch of Seminary Road is ranked as one of the safest streets in our city. Since the adoption of the Vision Zero Plan, this roadway has consistently achieved Vision Zero, a goal that SHA fully supports. What higher standard of safety can a road achieve than that? And yet characterizations of this roadway, both in city presentations and by those desiring bike lanes, have manipulated data encompassing the entire length of Seminary Road to portray this stretch as a high KSI (killed or serious injury) corridor. The unsafe portion of Seminary Road that demands attention is the roadway west of Howard Street, yet this plan does not address the very real safety issues there. Instead, the focus is only on this small stretch of safe roadway.

Proponents of the road diet are supported by well-funded regional bike lobby and smart growth advocates who have relentlessly emailed and tweeted their followers across the entire DMV region, most of whom don’t even know where Seminary Road is, to sign petitions asking our City Council to support the road diet which creates their desired bike lanes. Their petitions make it clear that signers do not have to give their addresses, so that allows people from all over our region to attempt to influence this decision. City staff has stated that non-resident views are important to them as such decisions have "regional" impacts. If you would like to express your support as an Alexandria resident for the recommendation of the TPB to maintain Seminary Road with 4 travel lanes and 2 pedestrian-activated crosswalks, please click on this link and add your name to the petition that supports Seminary Road as a 4-lane arterial: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/central-alexandria-citizens-petition. In addition, you may use the city's Call, Click, Connect system to send a message to all of City Council expressing your views.

SHA leadership and members, along with representatives from the 12 other civic associations, will be present at City Hall on Saturday the 14th to testify before Council as they make their decision on Seminary Road. Anyone is welcome to speak before Council by signing up ahead of time online or filling out a speaker's form at City Hall when you arrive at the meeting. We are hopeful that a majority of our City Council will side with the majority of Alexandria residents who want Seminary Road to remain a vital traffic artery for those who, due to the lack of frequent and reliable transit options, must use cars on this roadway to reach their homes, work, schools, and hospital.

The next meeting of the Seminary Hill Association will be Thursday, September 12th at 7:30 p.m. at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill at 3606 Seminary Road. All are welcome to attend. I encourage you to consider joining SHA and becoming an active member of our association. The agenda for the meeting is posted below. I look forward to seeing you at one of our meetings in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Carter Flemming, President, Seminary Hill Association

Seminary Hill Association, Inc.

         Monthly Board of Directors Meeting

       Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

                Parish House, Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill

         3606 Seminary Road, Alexandria VA

 

 

                                                                              Agenda

 

Police Report

Sheriff’s Report

Program:  Update on The Alexandria City Public Schools High School Project – Alternatives for a 2^nd High School. Presented by DP Consultants. The School Board is expected to vote on selecting an alternative on September 26^th.

 

Announcements

Minutes

Treasurer’s report

Area reports

 

Old Business

Proposed by laws changes

Seminary Road

 

New Business

Speaker/Topic/Location for Annual Meeting

Alexandria Mobility Plan

Seminary Hill Facebook Page

Sign Up for Email on our Website

 

Other Business

Adjourn

 

Next Seminary Hill Board Meeting is Thursday, October 10th

  

 Upcoming Meetings of Interest:

Saturday, September 14, City Hall Public Hearing on Seminary Road, 9:30 a.m. –  Seminary Road is docket item #9 which will immediately follow the Consent Docket. You may sign up to speak online at the city website or in person at the hearing.

Tuesday, September 17, Public Presentation on ACPS High School Project, 5:00-7:00 p.m. TCW High School

Monday, September 23, Agenda Alexandria, “Complete Streets or War on Cars?”, 7:15 program, $5, The Hermitage, 5000 Fairbanks Avenue. SHA Board Member Jack Sullivan is a panelist.

Monday, October 7, Alexandria Mobility Plan Open House and Forum, 6:30 p.m., Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany Street.