Arlington County Sidewalk Policy Draft
Note: This is a staff proposal for a new County policy on where sidewalks should be built. It is included in the draft Master Transportation Plan Pedestrian Element. It was referred to in the Civic Federation meeting of September 5 under New Business.
Draft Residential Street Sidewalk Policy
All street improvement projects (not to include paving) will include the construction of an ADA-compliant (to the greatest extent feasible) sidewalk along at least one side of a street when there is not a continuous ADA-accessible sidewalk currently in place on that street, unless an exemption is granted by the Director of Environmental Services.
Exemptions will not be considered if any of the following conditions exist on a street requested to be exempt:
- Presence of a school, park, church, or other significant generator of traffic within one block of the street segment in question.
- The street segment in question connects to a trail on either end, or if the street in question creates a connection between two streets with sidewalk.
- There exist 10 or more dwelling units or properties with primary access on the street segment.
- The street cannot safely accommodate an ADA-accessible path within the street travelway.
Exemption requests should be submitted by the affected civic association to the Director of Environmental Services. Exemptions will be evaluated based upon the following characteristics, in addition to the above requirements:
- Conflicts with significant mature trees
- Proximity, and physical impact upon, registered historical properties
- Significant topographic challenges
- Availability of public right-of-way
- Traffic and pedestrian volumes
- Sight distance conditions
The County staffer responsible for this area is Ritch Viola. You can contact him at Rviola@arlingtonva.us or 703-228-3699.
This page was last revised on: September 7, 2006.
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Arlington County Civic Federation
