We are excited to be piloting new in-street centerline hardening devices in Arlington later this spring.

Hardened centerlines are a proven safety tool used to reduce turning speeds and increase visibility of pedestrians for turning motorists at intersections. We are excited to be piloting new in-street centerline hardening devices in Arlington later this spring.

The intersections that are part of the pilot include:

• Clarendon at Rhodes
• Fairfax at Randolph
• Columbia at Dinwiddie
• Columbia at Four Mile Run
• Kenmore at 24th ​

These intersections were identified as locations experiencing left turn crash patterns through crash hot spot reviews and other crash analysis. The County will continue to monitor these locations collecting data on turning speeds and vehicle positioning to determine next steps regarding the pilot.

Learn more about this and other pilot projects here and more about hardened centerlines here.

The Vision Zero team set up a popup event at the Arlington Food Assistance Center the morning of January 23. The team handed out information on pedestrian safety in dark conditions and gave away blinking lights, reflective hats, and brochures to promote safer walking and biking habits. This event was in response to the Vision Zero goal of prioritizing equitable safety investments in transportation outlined in the Transportation Safety Equity Analysis Report.

Look out for more Vision Zero popups in April during our Annual Safety Feedback Engagement!

In November, members of the Vision Zero team and DES conducted safety audits of S Hayes St and S Fern St. The findings from these audits are now live on the vision zero website. S Hayes St from Army Navy Dr to S Fern St and S Fern St from S Rotary Rd to 24th St S were identified in 2023 as corridors along Arlington’s High Injury Network due to their high number of serious and fatal crashes.

The audits conducted in the fall identify several quick action and longer-term opportunities to improve safety conditions along these two stretches of road. Next steps include corridor-wide pavement marking and signage updates, implementation of “No Right Turn on Red” signs and Leading Pedestrian Intervals, and one quick build project.

Visit the Vision Zero website for more information on the High-Injury Network or safety audits/action.

An important speed reduction tool that Arlington will be piloting this year is hardened centerlines. Hardened centerlines are flexible delineator posts or raised speed humps placed along the yellow centerline at an intersection to block the diagonal path through the intersection and encourage drivers to turn left at a slower speed.

Safety benefits of hardened centerlines include:

• Slowing left-turning vehicles without reducing traffic capacity.
• Guiding vehicles to wider turning angle for safer and more predictable turns.
• Increasing visibility of pedestrians in crosswalk to turning drivers.

There is a 46% expected crash reduction for all raised medians, including hardened centerlines.

Click here to find more information on Hardened Centerlines as well as many of the other important road safety tools.

The League of American Bicyclists has recognized Arlington County as a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC).

This marks the first time Arlington has received a Gold-level BFC status, an honor that recognizes the County for a commitment to building quality biking infrastructure as part of its transportation network and implementing programs that help all riders feel welcomed and encouraged.

Arlington was a Bronze-level BFC in 2003 and moved up to Silver-level in 2007, sustaining that status until this Gold-level award.

Since the Silver-level designation in 2019, the County has made steady biking advancements in the program’s Engineering and Planning categories, bolstered by the County Board’s 2021 adoption of the first Vision Zero Action Plan, aimed at preventing transportation injuries no matter the means of travel. New pieces of the Crystal City Bike Network continue to take shape along with multimodal planning for major corridors that will improve upon bike infrastructure. The County prioritizes bikeway and trail projects that equitably connect neighborhoods separated by physical barriers and support environmental resilience, mixed-use development while reducing potential physical dangers.

Additionally, School Slow Zones launched in 2022, which designate areas within 600 feet of a school for reduced speed limits and infrastructure to help foster safe travel by students and families. After piloting School Slow Zones, speed limits were permanently reduced to 20 MPH on 58 local street segments within 28 school zones. The next phase will reduce speeds around the remaining 18 schools by summer 2024.

Another Arlington innovation: Key and Campbell elementary school families established “bike buses,” in which students bicycle to school as a group, adding fun, exercise and visibility. Biking has also grown post-pandemic among Arlington’s older students, with several schools reporting the “good” problem of bike racks at full capacity by first bell.

Read the full press release here!