Arlington Increases Focus On Pedestrian Safety Around County Schools

ARLINGTON, VA — With the new school year starting on Monday, Arlington County has taken several steps to improve pedestrian safety around schools as part of its Vision Zero transportation safety program.

Since the program was adopted in May 2021, the county’s Department of Environmental Services has worked with Arlington Public Schools to review six intersections, identify four pilot projects, and complete 13 school zone updates, as well as conduct 18 walk audits and access reviews.

A key project from Vision Zero program is the installation of School Slow Zones that enforce speed limits of 20 miles per hour on neighborhood streets that are within 600 feet of a major access point to a school, the county said.

The county installed School Slow Zone demonstrations on 58 street segments at 11 public schools and two private schools earlier this year to measure if they effectively reduce speeds before applying the findings in the next round of School Slow Zones.

“Moving forward, the County anticipates adding approximately ten Slow Zones around schools each year, meaning that the 40-plus public and private schools in the County could be updated within the next three to five years,” the county said in its “Vision Zero Year 1 Annual Report.”

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Starting on Monday, the Department of Environmental Service will kick off a pilot program at Oakridge Elementary School. The county will temporarily close the road along 24th Street South between South Ode and South Nash streets to improve drop-offs and pick-ups at Oakridge Elementary School.

The closure will be in effect 30 minutes prior to the start of school (from 8:30 to 9 a.m.) and 30 minutes prior to dismissal (from 3:20 to 3:50 p.m.), with the goal of helping with pedestrian safety and facilitating bus operations, the county said.

In April, as part of another pilot program, the county added new school crossing signage, speed signage, and pavement markings intended to reduce vehicle speeds on Patrick Henry Drive and increase visibility of pedestrians crossing at 18th Street North due to increased foot traffic near Cardinal Elementary School.

This pilot project is expected to run through October. Data was collected on vehicle speeds and driver yield behavior to people in the crosswalk in March, which will be compared to data collected after completion of the pilot project to determine its effectiveness, the county said.

Findings from the project will be considered at similar uncontrolled, high-volume pedestrian crosswalks near schools across the county.