July 04, 2023 / By mobanmarket
FAIRFAX, VA — Next Wednesday will be the one-year anniversary of a high-speed crash on Blake Lane that killed two students as they were walking home together from Oakton High School.
On Tuesday night, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik hosted a meeting at the Providence Community Center to present the preliminary observations of the Blake Lane Road Safety Audit currently being conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Related: 2 Dead, 2 Injured: Blake Lane Corridor Crashes Raise Safety Concerns
Since the fatal crash, a number of safety improvements have been implemented along the 2.1-mile stretch of Blake Lane/Jermantown Road from Chain Bridge Road in Oakton to Lee Highway at the Fairfax City’s northern border. These included:
As part of the audit, a preliminary field walk was conducted in December, followed by an additional inspection on April 26 aimed at identifying potential pedestrian safety issues. The scope of the inspection not only included the main roadway, but the side streets and surrounding neighborhoods that feed into it.
VDOT’s presentation Tuesday night shared only a partial list of problems that the audit has identified corridor-wide. These included:
The newly opened 66 Parallel Trail was mentioned as part of the general discussion around safety improvements for bicyclists along the corridor. But it also factored into one of the more lengthy discussions at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Several members of the audience expressed concerns about about congestion around the Blake Lane/Sutton Road intersection, which is the closest to the high school. Before and after school, students routinely crowd the crosswalks on both streets, causing backups at the streetlight.
When the 66 Parallel Trail project is completed, bicyclists will be able to access the trail at Sutton Road, contributing to the congestion at the intersection
The audit has already observed several problems at the intersection, including foliage and a horizontal curve limiting sight distance for southbound vehicles on Blake Lane; a large number of pedestrians crossing Blake Lane are conflicting with drivers turn right from Sutton Road; and cars on queuing in order to drop-off students at Oakton High.
One bit of positive news discussed Tuesday night was the anticipated establishment of a school zone and the installation of a single traffic camera.
In February, cameras were installed in eight school zones around the county as part of the Speed Camera Pilot program meant to improve safety, prevent accidents, and protect pedestrians and motorists. Oakton High was included in the program, even though it did not have an existing school zone.
Gil Chelwicki, VDOT’s Northern Virginia District traffic engineer, told Patch after the meeting that once a suitable location for the school zone was identified, the speed camera would be installed to monitor one direction of traffic. The speed zone would be in effect 30 minutes before and after the opening and closing of school, with the police enforcing a 25 mph speed limit.
VDOT’s timeline for completing the road safety audit is to refine countermeasures and develop planning-cost estimates through the spring and summer, hold public outreach meetings during the the summer and deliver a final report in the fall.
After the meeting, Palchik told Patch that a lot has happened over the last year to improve pedestrian safety along the Blake Lane corridor.
“We wish as a community that it could’ve been done more quickly,” she said. “We’re definitely looking at all of the avenues for getting the speed camera up as quickly as we can. I’m excited about narrowing lanes and doing other engineering improvements. I’m looking forward to seeing VDOT’s RSA study. I’m excited about the engineering that we’ll be the funding and doing what we can about enforcement.”
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