Arlington County’s efforts to get drivers to slow down has residents in at least three neighborhoods up in arms at a government they said does whatever it wants without consideration for residents. In North Arlington, Terry Dean, the president of the Chain Bridge Forest Civic Association, said county staff refused to listen to her neighbors’ complaints about a street improvement project now under way. Neighbors wanted $16,000 worth of speed humps, she said. What they got was $200,000 worth of concrete dividers and narrowed lanes that they said increased the risk of drivers being rear-ended while turning into the neighborhood.
“I think there was a time when ‘the Arlington way’ meant good governance,” Dean said. “‘Arlington way’ now means my way or highway.”
In South Arlington, residents of Arlington Ridge Road and Meade Street are protesting another street project. Residents wanted traffic near a crosswalk slowed. But the county installed sidewalks, gutters and curbs while removing a traffic lane residents said is crucial to making safe turns. Residents called the work a waste of money that did nothing to improve safety.
“They’re sacrificing local drivers and local families in favor of, quote unquote, traffic calming,” said Jeff Humber of Save Our Streets, a group protesting the county project. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I’m voting straight Republican in county elections from now on. I’m just totally disgusted with these people. It’s like they really don’t care.”
And in the Boulevard Manor neighborhood of east Arlington, residents said the county denied their request for speed bumps after someone who didn’t even live there complained to the county manager’s office about the proposed bumps.
“It seems very arbitrary to us,” said resident Matthew Doyle. “It sounds like somebody had a connection to someone senior in the county.”
But county officials say in all of these cases, the projects followed textbook guidelines and increased safety. Eventually, the hubbub will die down, they said.
“Our experience here is people get really upset about change,” said Arlington Director of Transportation Dennis Leach. “They don’t like change. They think the world is going to end. And then they all of the sudden realize: ‘Well that really wasn’t as bad as I expected.’ ”
