[Archived] Eisenhower-Duke Connector Citizen Information Meeting

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Richard J. Baier, Director
September 20, 2001 Department of Transportation and Environmental Services 703.838.4966

EISENHOWER - DUKE CONNECTOR TASK FORCE
PLANS CITIZEN INFORMATION MEETING
(Note: Rescheduled from Sept. 12, 2001)

The Eisenhower Avenue-to-Duke Street Connector Task Force has scheduled a Citizen Information Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School, 435 Ferdinand Day Drive, Alexandria.

The purpose of the meeting is for citizens to learn and make comments about the Eisenhower Avenue-to-Duke Street Connector Location Study and the work of the Task Force. The City Council created the Eisenhower Avenue-to-Duke Street Task Force in March 2001, to re-examine the alternatives for an Eisenhower Avenue-to-Duke Street connector as part of Phase II of the Clermont Interchange Project.

The setting of the Information Meeting will be informal. Citizens can come to the school’s gymnasium any time between 5 and 9 p.m and visit several stations, each featuring a different topic, such as study background, environmental assessment, and transportation issues. The consultant and City staff will be available at each station to provide information, answer questions and listen to comments. Comment cards will be provided for written remarks.

The need to construct a connector road between Eisenhower Avenue and Duke Street has been identified for several years. In 1973 the City Council passed a resolution asking the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to construct an interchange at I-95 and Clermont

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Information Meeting
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Avenue to improve the traffic flow for the growing development in the area. In 1993, when VDOT completed the Clermont Interchange Environmental Assessment, the agency recommended the project be divided into two phases: Phase I, construction of the Clermont Interchange and the extension of Clermont Avenue to Eisenhower Avenue, and Phase II, construction of a connector roadway from Eisenhower Avenue to Duke Street.

In 1993, the City Council endorsed the location of the Clermont Interchange (which opened in 1997) and endorsed Alternative 5 as a connector roadway at a future date after additional study of the transportation infrastructure. As proposed, Alternative 5 is a .61 mile four-lane connector between Eisenhower Avenue and South Pickett Street at the South Pickett Street/Edsall Road intersection and runs along the western edge of Armistead L. Boothe Park in a reserved right-of-way.

The Task Force will study Alternative 5, other alternatives between Telegraph Road and Van Dorn Street, and a no-build option. The Task Force will analyze each alternative from economic development, environmental, traffic, neighborhood impact and financial perspectives and recommend the best alternative to the to the City Council. The Task Force’s final report will be presented to City Council in the spring of 2002.

For more information, call Richard J. Baier, Director of Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, 703.838.4966.