The City of Alexandria 11 June 2023
301 King Street, Suite 2300
Alexandria, VA 22314

Attn: Mayor Wilson, Vice Mayor Jackson and City Council Members

Cc: T&ES, Transportation Commission

Alexandria Families for Safe Streets (AFSS) supports Duke Street in Motion Advisory Group’s
recommendation DSIM Advisory Group’s recommendation. We view the proposed changes to Duke
Street to be a generational transformation opportunity to update a traditional 4 to 6 lane street corridor
designed decades ago to maximized traffic flow into a 21st century multimodal thoroughfare. The project
is a critical infrastructure investment for Alexandria to meet the population growth forecasted in the
west end of Duke Street. The need to develop efficient and equitable transportation alternatives on this
vital artery in Alexandria is more important than ever. The Advisory Group’s recommendation will
improve safety, reliability, and travel times for all users along the corridor.
Below is a screen shot of AFSS’s Near Miss / Dangerous Location crowd sourced interactive map as of 9
June 2023. The red dots and clusters of red circles along Duke Street are Near Miss reports from people
living, working and traveling along the Duke Street corridor. The underlying dark blue (bike) and lighter
blue (pedestrian) squares represent data from VDOT 2016 to 2022 TREDS reports showing Killed or
Serious Injuries (KSI) tragedies along Duke Street. Here is a link to our Near Miss Dashboard (arcgis.com)

  • Near Miss reports along Duke Street since 2019 is greater than 300 reports
  • TREDS KSI reports along Duke Steet from 2016 to 2022 is greater than 25

Behind such statistics are families who lost a loved one due to a driver of a vehicle crashing into their
loved one. In addition there are pedestrians / cyclists who survived a crash but some of whom are
permanently physically crippled and/or cognitively impaired.

Duke Street corridor – June 9, 2023

We have over 900 recipients on Alexandria FSS’s mailing list, the overwhelming majority of whom are
concerned about street safety for pedestrians and all vulnerable road users. As a pedestrian focused, all
volunteer organization, we ask you to support the DISM Advisory Group’s recommendation.

Sincerely,

Mike Doyle, Founding Member
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Alexandria Families for Safe Streets

Download the letter here