Good evening –
A couple of months ago there was an exchange on the listserv about potentially dangerous conditions for cars and pedestrians on part of Forest Lane, especially around the blind curve between Woodley and Oakdale. Since then a group of us has been discussing possible solutions. We have progress to report.
The concerns we’ve talked about are cars and trucks that take the blind curve too fast and/or not on their side of the road, as well as the difficulties that vehicles parked on that part of the Forest create. Complicating the problem is increased traffic in recent years from delivery trucks, construction vehicles, and more passenger vehicle trips. We are also very concerned about the left turn from Forest onto Oakdale, where many drivers cut the turn – some close by the left curb – and don’t slow down (or don’t slow down enough).
We’ve met with Brian Hungarter, FCPD’s traffic control officer for the McLean District, and a traffic engineer from VDOT. With their help, we’ll get some new signage and warnings this fall to emphasize the need for caution. There are further measures we can think about in the months to follow.
First, the existing situation. The speed limit (though not posted now) is 25 mph. There are black-on-yellow signs advising 15 mph at the intersections, but those aren’t enforceable (i.e., you won’t get a ticket for not observing them). There are no parking restrictions apart from the default prohibitions on parking too close to an intersection or near a fire hydrant. There aren’t a lot of options for enforcement. Very few drivers go through fast enough to get a speeding ticket. Drivers who run stop signs at Woodley and Oakdale, not stopping until they’re in the roadway on Forest, can be ticketed. While doing that would address a significant safety risk, it’s not the main problem.
In about 2-3 months (everything takes time!), new traffic signs will go up. There will be a 25 mph speed limit sign. That does not reflect a determination that 25 mph is a safe speed. It’s just the lowest limit that VDOT can post, but having it there it will give FCPD more options. There will also be signs advising a lower speed through the blind curve. (You’d think they’d have a “BLIND CURVE” sign that they could post, but you’d be wrong.) After that, we’ll get FCPD to post a temporary sign that shows “YOUR SPEED,” like the one on Chesterbrook now. That will not only tell drivers how fast they’re going but will also record all the data it captures, giving us information about how many cars are using the road and how fast they’re going.
We talked to both VDOT and FCPD about the possibility of adding lane markings on Forest. There would be significant downsides to doing that. VDOT would use double-yellow striping, not broken white lines. The practical effect would be to make on-street parking illegal since there isn’t anywhere to park except in the lane of travel. That would greatly inconvenience the people who live there, and it would also drive parking for all the service vehicles and landscaping contractors onto Woodley and Oakdale near the intersections with Forest. There is no plan now to add lane striping.
Several people like the idea of adding convex mirrors. That’s not something that VDOT does, and we’re looking into whether the County would be involved if we wanted to do that. However, VDOT recommends against using mirrors. They cite research indicating that convex mirrors can lead to more frequent accidents because drivers can be confused by reflections they see. That’s still something we can discuss further.
Another option that may be open to us is to have the speed limit lowered on part of Forest to 15 or 20 mph. There is a relatively new state law that allows that to be done with involvement by Fairfax County. Depending in part on whether the new signage helps enough, that may be worth looking into. We’ll reach out to the right people in the County to learn more about the process.
Speed bumps may be something we want to consider at some point, though those have downsides too. Due to the nature of Forest Lane and restrictions built into the process for getting speed bumps approved, they may not be an option unless the speed limit is lowered first.
In any case, the steps that need to be followed usually take at least a year if everything goes smoothly; it’s not something to look to for a quick fix.
We’re planning to discuss all of this at this fall’s CWCA meeting. We’ll invite Officer Hungarter from FCPD to join us.
In the meantime, we can get yellow "SLOW DOWN" yard signs from FCPD.
If you’re concerned about fast traffic along your street and would like one of these, please send me (Dave Fitzgerald) an email (DF) and I’ll arrange to get one for you.
Finally, as you’ve probably figured out from everything above, there is no way we can make people drive safely. Limiting the risk is up to all of us who use the roads, especially along the stretch of Forest leading out to Chesterbrook but also throughout the neighborhood,
PLEASE drive carefully and patiently, and anticipate that there will be other drivers who won’t.
We’ve been fortunate not to have a serious accident in the neighborhood, and we’d all like that to remain the case for many years to come.
Dave Fitzgerald
Working Group for Forest Lane
Traffic Committee Chair
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