Monday, November 16, 2015
VDOT Receives National Safety Award for Lawyers Road
Today VDOT received a National Roadway Safety Award for making Lawyers Road and Soapstone Drive safer by implementing a road diet that also created bike lanes. The Lawyers Road project was the first "road diet" in Virginia and has proven to be very successful. FABB was heavily involved in supporting the project. Congratulations to VDOT. Several more road diet projects were implemented this summer, in part based on the success of these two projects.
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
November 16, 2015
(Washington, DC) -- During a national awards ceremony on Capitol Hill, the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today honored the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for its two Reston Road Diet projects, which were designed to increase safety by reducing the number of lanes on 2-mile segments of both Lawyers Road and Soapstone Drive in Fairfax County. Together, these projects jointly received one of 10 2015 National Roadway Safety Awards.
These heavily traveled sections of roadway carry about 10,000 vehicles per day and were prone to excessive speeding. VDOT implemented the Road Diets by cutting the number of through lanes in half to two and adding a center turn lane. There was virtually no cost since the projects were implemented in conjunction with other paving projects. In addition, the extra width of the roadways were converted into bicycle lanes, building on the multimodal transportation network in the Reston area focused on improving safety and mobility of cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. Following project completion, crashes decreased by 69 percent on Lawyers Road and 67 percent on Soapstone Drive.
“We are just pleased that in working with the community, we have been able to put in minor changes that make a major improvement to safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians,” said Helen Cuervo, Northern Virginia district administrator for VDOT. “We are making the best use possible of the pavement, and because we’re seizing the opportunity to adjust the designs during regularly scheduled work, these changes come at very low cost.”
CONTACT: Cathy Gillen
cell (443) 463-4449
cathy@thegillengroup.com
November 16, 2015
Virginia Department of Transportation Road Diets in Reston
Honored with a National Roadway Safety Award
(Washington, DC) -- During a national awards ceremony on Capitol Hill, the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today honored the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for its two Reston Road Diet projects, which were designed to increase safety by reducing the number of lanes on 2-mile segments of both Lawyers Road and Soapstone Drive in Fairfax County. Together, these projects jointly received one of 10 2015 National Roadway Safety Awards.
These heavily traveled sections of roadway carry about 10,000 vehicles per day and were prone to excessive speeding. VDOT implemented the Road Diets by cutting the number of through lanes in half to two and adding a center turn lane. There was virtually no cost since the projects were implemented in conjunction with other paving projects. In addition, the extra width of the roadways were converted into bicycle lanes, building on the multimodal transportation network in the Reston area focused on improving safety and mobility of cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. Following project completion, crashes decreased by 69 percent on Lawyers Road and 67 percent on Soapstone Drive.
“We are just pleased that in working with the community, we have been able to put in minor changes that make a major improvement to safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians,” said Helen Cuervo, Northern Virginia district administrator for VDOT. “We are making the best use possible of the pavement, and because we’re seizing the opportunity to adjust the designs during regularly scheduled work, these changes come at very low cost.”
CONTACT: Cathy Gillen
cell (443) 463-4449
cathy@thegillengroup.com
Labels: lawyers road, national roadway safety award, road diet, soapstone drive, vdot
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