The City of Alexandria surveyed the 122 on-street spaces between West Myrtle and West Maple streets on typical midweek school days, Tuesday through Thursday. Counts ran in the morning, the evening and at night, when residents are most likely to be home. The busiest moment it recorded was 34% full. Most other counts came in between 15% and 28%, and several were under 20%.
That count matters for Saturday, Nov. 14, when City Council takes up the Russell Road Safe Routes to School project. The debate has been framed as a parking fight. On a corridor with that much empty curb, the decision actually comes down to two narrower questions. How many concrete median islands get built at the crossings, and where do the staff at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary park?
The count was taken on school days, and teachers were the concern
The city's stated goals are to slow traffic, improve pedestrian crossings and open up sight lines at intersections. The work follows recommendations from the Safe Routes to School walk audit for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary, which sits at 600 Russell Road. The project page lists 9 crashes on this corridor since 2017, with 3 that injured people.
The parking pushback came mostly from one direction, and it wasn't about residents' own driveways. As ALXnow reported in July, dozens of residents wrote to the city that the school has no staff parking lot. One commenter said removing the nearby spaces would leave teachers and support staff "with no viable place to park within a 3‑block radius." Another asked that any parking assessment be done during the school year, when teachers are parked.
In the same outreach window, May 21 to June 17, more than seven in ten respondents supported the project. The Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Washington Area Bicyclists Association both endorsed it.
The Rosemont Citizens Association named two concerns going into the Council hearing. One was the loss of on-street parking along Russell Road. The other was whether the proposed safety improvements go far enough. Those two concerns pull against each other, and every version of this plan has been an attempt to balance them.
Three versions of the same five blocks
Since July the project has gone through three main designs, and each changes a different number of curb spaces. The city's parking comparison table sets them side by side.
| Version | Who backed it | Median islands | Spaces removed | Spaces added | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | City staff, original | None | 4 | 2, in TPB's revised version | −2 |
| Option 2 | Traffic and Parking Board, July 27 | Three | 20 | None | −20 |
| Alternative C | T&ES Director, Aug. 7 | Two, at W. Masonic View and W. Walnut | 13 | 11 spaces plus 2 loading | −2 |
The Board went furthest. On July 27 it voted 5–2 on an amended motion to remove 4 spaces on the 300 block, 6 on the 400 block, 6 on the 500 block, 1 on the 700 block and 3 on the 800 block. That vote backed Option 2. Option 2 includes painted curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, three median crossing islands, improved ADA curb ramps at six intersections and a new pedestrian crossing at West Chapman Street. According to ALXnow, much of the July public testimony supported Option 2 for walking and biking safety.
Measured against the city's count, even the Board's 20 spaces leave plenty of room. Option 2 removes about 16% of the supply, and the city projected that at least half the spaces would still be open at the busiest times. Staff's original plan and the Director's Alternative C both come out two spaces down. Across all three versions the change in total curb space ranges from small to modest. The big differences are in the street design.
The median islands are the design question
A painted curb extension uses paint, often with flexible posts, to carry the sidewalk out into the street. It shortens the crossing and slows turning cars. A median refuge island is a raised concrete median between travel lanes, so someone on foot can cross one lane at a time. Public speakers at the July hearing pushed hard for the islands, and that is the main point where the plans differ.
Option 2 has three islands. Alternative C has two, at West Masonic View Avenue and West Walnut Street, along with painted curb extensions at West Myrtle, West Chapman, West Oak and West Maple. T&ES Director Leah Riley explained the placement in her August letter, as ALXnow reported. "By locating the refuge islands at the intersections closest to Naomi Brooks Elementary School, Alternative C concentrates these enhanced crossing treatments where pedestrian activity is greatest," she wrote. The same report says the plan was developed with the Alexandria Fire Department and school leaders, and that the principal supports it.
Some of what neighbors have asked for at West Masonic View isn't available under any plan. The walk audit called for a raised crossing there. The city says it can't be considered because Russell Road is an emergency response route. All versions keep a few things in common:
- Every crosswalk across Russell Road gets high-visibility markings.
- The existing speed humps stay, paired with the new curb extensions and islands.
- Each concept adds new traffic calming in some form, through painted curb extensions, median islands or both.
Six spaces on Johnston Place
The staff-parking concern went back and forth between the Board and the Director. With its July vote, the Board asked city staff to return with parking options for Naomi L. Brooks staff. Alternative C was the response. It added five unrestricted spaces and two loading spaces on the 600 block of Russell Road, right in front of the school. The loading spaces were for parents and visitors who need short-term access, at the school's request. It also added six spaces on Johnston Place.
On Sept. 28 the Board voted against all of those additions. In an Oct. 2 letter, Riley accepted the Board's recommendation for the 600 block but kept the Johnston Place spaces. "I have determined the addition of parking spaces on Johnston Place will alleviate parking demand and support school employees, whose numbers are increasing this year," she wrote, according to ALXnow. The design staff now recommends to Council is called Modified Alternative C.
So the Johnston Place spaces are the one piece of this plan aimed at the problem residents raised most often. They are the closest thing in the plan to a staff parking lot.
Saturday's hearing and next spring's repaving
Three appeals of the Board's decision to support Concept 2 are going to City Council, according to the Rosemont Citizens Association. ALXnow reports that Council will review both the appeals and the full project before making a final decision.
Council has handled a similar case nearby this year. In May, a divided Council upheld the Board's decision to replace on-street parking with bike lanes on Braddock Road between Mount Vernon Avenue and Russell Road, starting in 2028.
The timing is tied to the paving schedule. The city plans to build these changes when it repaves Russell Road, and the project page estimates spring 2027. Whatever Council approves will be built into the new road surface, and changing it afterward would mean reworking a freshly paved road.
Dates for Rosemont neighbors following the project:
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m.: RCA special meeting at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 100 West Luray Avenue, set up to hear the current proposal and alternatives and to vote on a position for Council.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: City Council considers the appeals and the project.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m.: Regular RCA meeting at the same church, with City Manager Jim Parajon expected.
- Spring 2027: Russell Road repaving, with the approved changes built in.
For questions about the design, the city lists Silas Sullivan of Transportation and Environmental Services as project manager, and the interactive concept map is linked from the project page.
If you live near Russell Road and want to talk about what next spring's work could mean for your block, I'm glad to help. I've followed Rosemont street by street for years, and I'm always happy to talk it through by phone. Call Christine at Christine Garner and talk with an Old Town neighborhood expert.
