News Release

National Park Service will host second public meeting to get public input on George Washington Memorial Parkway safety

Date: November 22, 2019
Contact: Aaron LaRocca, [phone]

McLean, Va.—  On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the National Park Service will host a meeting to discuss George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP) visitors’ recommendations about how to improve safety at key intersections between the City of Alexandria and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. This is the next step in the National Park Service (NPS) and Federal Highway Administration’s ongoing work to improve this section of the GWMP, and it is the first time the NPS will share this information with the public. 

The NPS wants additional public input on which options we should pursue. The options include new efforts to:

• Educate parkway visitors about safe travel through the parkway’s historic landscape by hosting educational events. 

• Enforce speed limits and address distracted driving through focused policing.

• Engineer improvements including new traffic patterns and additional lighting. 

The recommendations NPS will present directly reflect input from the public, transportation stakeholders, community associations and elected officials.

All of the solutions NPS presents will both make the road safer and protect the parkway’s historic character. Some could be implemented with existing funds and others would require NPS to allocate funds to support the work. You can learn more about the study and see a map at go.nps.gov/GWMPSafety. 

The NPS wants to know what the public thinks about these alternatives open house or submitting written comments online or by mail.

Open House

• When: Tuesday, Dec.3 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m.
• Where: Walt Whitman Middle School  

             2500 Parkers Lane 

             Alexandria, VA 22306
 

Online through the park Planning, Environment & Public Comment webpage.

 

By mail for letters postmarked by Jan. 10, 2020:

George Washington Memorial Parkway

Attn: Alexandria to Mount Vernon Safety Study 

700 George Washington Memorial Parkway

c/o Turkey Run Park

McLean, Virginia 22101

Traffic can create challenges for park users and pedestrians who need to cross the parkway to access neighborhoods, recreational facilities, bus stops and the Mount Vernon Trail. 

The southern section of the GWMP opened as the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway in 1932. The road’s completion was planned to coincide with the nationwide celebration of the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth in that year.

The parkway’s designers pioneered principles of modern roadway construction by building an attractive and efficient limited access road. Besides serving as a link in the national capital region’s transportation network, the parkway preserves natural scenery, links sites associated with George Washington's life and provides recreational opportunities along the Potomac River shoreline. Today, this section of the GWMP serves over 17,000 vehicles daily and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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