Mount Vernon Lane Closures Cause Controversy

13 | NWSLTR Mount Vernon Lane Closures Cause Controversy

By Chris Stone

In recent months, sections of southbound Mt. Vernon Parkway have been closed, with yellow lines and cones narrowing the road from two lanes to one. The change has people throughout Alexandria and Fairfax frustrated, confused, and angry. This is largely due to the fact that the National Park Service has refused to give an in-depth response to the question “what is going on?” According to The Washington Post, the only response that the National Park Service has given is that the parkway is “going on a road diet”, in which the number of southbound lanes will be reduced. The National Parks Service Parkway Chief of Staff Aaron LaRocca was quoted as saying “By definition, a parkway is an attenuated (thin) park with a road through it, but a park, nonetheless.” While this may be true, of the 25,000 daily users of the parkway, few ever actually stop to visit. The parkway is mainly used as a commuter route for those who live in the Fort Hunt and Mount Vernon areas, the same people who are currently upset with the parkway’s “road diet.”

One of these upset commuters is Bishop Ireton Senior, Jack Hare. When asked about how the lane closures have affected his commute, Hare replied “It (lane closures) makes the drive home from school much slower and less enjoyable, and I am often stuck driving behind someone who is going below the speed limit” He went on to describe how he was pulled over while illegally using the new turning lane to pass someone who was driving slowly. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as other drivers can be doing the same on a daily basis. A solution to this problem was offered by Janet Blanton in another interview. When asked what she would like to see from the city of Alexandria as a solution, she said “I would like to see a raise in the speed limit

What are your thoughts on the Mount Vernon Park Way lane closures?

Henry Swoope

Senior

“I do not like the lane closures. They have slowed down traffic a lot and is ineffective because it is not preventing or helping anything.”

Lauren Cremer

Junior

“I really do not like the lane closures because people drive a lot slower and my comute to and from school is a lot slower. Also., the single lane floods fast when it rains hard and it creates a lot of issues.”

on the parkway. It is unfair for drivers to get stuck going well below the speed limit when they are trying to make curfew or go home.” The main issue with the parkway appears to be this: The parkway is a major commuter route, and is managed by the National Park Service, which does not have the budget to maintain a road with that much traffic. The failure to maintain the Mount Vernon Parkway is the same issue that the National Parks Service struggles with in the major national parks. There is currently a backlog of maintenance tasks that have yet to be completed in some of our most famous national parks, such as the Shenandoah National Park, Yellowstone, and Yosemite National Parks. The National Parks Service has begun a process of “deferred maintenance”, which essentially delays the repair of major roads and bridges until the department receives the budget to pay for the re-construction. The lane closures have caused major controversy in the city of Alexandria. The National Parks Service has been put in the tough position of maintaining a road without the proper budget to do so, but has failed to communicate this to Alexandria’s citizens. The problem at hand is not just the parkway’s speed limit, the lack of proper lighting, or lane closures, but rather a lack of communication by the National Parks Service, and of the allocation of a budget by the federal government that accommodates the maintenance of a major commuter route. Hopefully, the commotion created by the lane closures will drive policy makers to pass a Parks Service budget in the future that allows the parkway to be properly repaired, rather than closing sections, and choking the flow of traffic.