West Braddock & North Howard: The City’s Options, in Plain English
The City of Alexandria is studying safety improvements for two streets — and it wants to hear from you by July 3. Here’s what each option actually means.
The city survey is open now
Comments are open June 6 – July 3, 2026. It takes just a few minutes.
What this is about
The city is looking at West Braddock Road (from Van Dorn Street to Crest Street) and North Howard Street (from West Braddock Road to Seminary Road). These streets connect several schools — the Minnie Howard campus, Episcopal High School, Alexandria City High School, and St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes — so a lot of students walk and bike along them every day.
Today the corridor has narrow, obstructed sidewalks, fast-moving traffic, and few safe places to cross. Between 2021 and 2025 there were 56 crashes here, 22 of them causing injuries. The city’s own analysis also found that both roads carry far less traffic than they were built for — well under what even a two-lane street can handle. That extra room is the opportunity: the streets can be “right-sized” to add safe space for walking and biking without widening the roadway.
West Braddock Road — the options
Four configurations are on the table, from a full redesign to leaving things as they are. They differ mainly in how they have cyclists navigate the corridor’s most complex point: the intersection at King Street and Quaker Lane.
So many cars turn right off Braddock onto King to reach I-395 that this is a hard place for bikes to cross. The two-way designs (Options 2 and 3) keep all bike traffic on one side of the street, so riders only meet that intersection on its simpler corner. Option 1 keeps a one-way lane on each side and instead manages the crossing with a dedicated bike signal.
Protected Bike Lanes
One travel lane in each direction (plus the center turn lane), with a protected, one-way bike lane on each side of the street. Bollards separate bikes from cars, and the sidewalks gain a buffer from traffic.
- A protected lane on each side — bikes ride with the flow of traffic, and both sidewalks gain a buffer from moving cars.
- Riders heading to the Minnie Howard campus can reach it directly, without crossing the road.
- At King and Quaker, a dedicated bike signal gives riders their own phase to cross — no switching sides.
- Connects cleanly to the regular street at each end of the corridor (Van Dorn Street to the west, Crest Street to the east): because each lane already runs on its own side, riders don’t have to cross over to get on or off.
- No new on-street parking is added.
Two-Way Cycle Track
Both directions of bike traffic are combined into a single two-way path along the south side of the street — the side that crosses King and Quaker on its simpler corner. Putting both directions on one path also frees up road space elsewhere.
- On the south side — where the ACHS King Street campus and Episcopal High School sit — the wide two-way track puts a double buffer between the sidewalk and traffic.
- Opens room for roughly 68 new on-street parking spaces, a kept travel lane, or a dedicated bus pull-off.
- The track sits on the opposite side from the Minnie Howard campus, so riders going there have to double back.
- Keeps two westbound lanes at the Van Dorn Street intersection, which tends to encourage faster driving.
Hybrid
Protected one-way bike lanes on the western half of the corridor, then a two-way cycle track on the eastern half — the half that meets King and Quaker, so all bike traffic crosses there on one side.
- Like the full cycle track, the two-way section runs on the opposite side from the Minnie Howard campus — so students bound for Minnie Howard end up on the wrong side and have to switch back.
- Adds about 13 on-street parking spaces near the Bradlee shopping area.
- Because the design switches sides, westbound riders have to cross the street twice — near Marlee Way and Kenwood Avenue.
No Change
Keeps the road exactly as it is today: wide lanes with painted “sharrows” (shared-lane markings) and no separated space for biking.
- The city identifies no safety benefit for this option.
North Howard Street — the options
North Howard is a four-lane street today. Two of the three options right-size it; the third leaves it unchanged.
Protected Bike Lanes
Reduces North Howard from four travel lanes to two, and uses the reclaimed space for a protected, one-way bike lane on each side, separated by bollards.
- Right-sizes a four-lane road that carries far less traffic than four lanes are built for.
- A proposed bike box helps riders transition where the bike lanes end.
- Buffered sidewalks and shorter, safer crossings.
Two-Way Cycle Track
Two travel lanes plus a continuous center turn lane, with both directions of bike traffic on a single two-way track along one side.
- The long, continuous center turn lane can tempt drivers to use it to pass illegally.
- Bikes share one side of the street in both directions.
No Change
Keeps the existing four travel lanes with no separated space for people walking or biking.
- The city identifies no safety benefit for this option.
What BPAC recommends
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) supports Option 1, Protected Bike Lanes, for both streets. In its view, that option delivers the highest level of safety for everyone — people walking, driving, riding transit, and biking — because:
- Protected bike lanes give riders more room and put a buffer between the sidewalk and traffic.
- They’re easier to get on and off at each end of the corridor, and they reach the Minnie Howard campus directly — without asking riders to cross or double back.
- The parking added by the other options is next to lots that already have hundreds of spaces, and doesn’t match the city’s plans for the corridor.
Have your say before July 3
The city is collecting feedback now and will use it to shape its recommendation. A few minutes of your time helps make sure the people who want safer streets are counted.
Take the city surveyMore detail and the full concept plans are on the city’s project page.