Comments at Arlington County Board Meeting, April 5, 2025.
The Multimodal Transportation Assessment for the Hotel Pentagon Site in Green Valley is upbeat about the traffic impacts of development.
The report gives high ratings for vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle and transit access, stating:
“This report concludes that the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact to the surrounding transportation and roadway network, assuming that all planned site design
elements and recommended mitigation measures are implemented (p. 6).”
This finding is contradicted by the report’s own data. For example, Table 12 shows that traffic congestion at the I395 North off ramp at S. 26th Street and South Glebe Road is LOS (Level of Service) F during peak periods (p. 68). Table 13 shows that turn queues often exceed available capacity (p. 70).
The level of congestion at this key intersection can only get worse when VDOT eliminates access to the site at two entrances on Glebe Road. Add to that the fact that the development will double existing parking spaces on the site from 267 to 550. In fact Table 9 shows an increase in vehicle counts during peak periods of 86 percent (p. 50).
The report concedes that the area is only “somewhat walkable” due to the lack of retail (p. 21). Another explanation for the mediocre walk score is that while there are sidewalks, pedestrians and bikers put their lives at risk crossing Glebe Road in the vicinity of the I395 off ramps. In fact only one side of the complex is safe to walk: 24th Road South. But now that all vehicular access from Glebe Road will be closed off, the risk of collision on 24th Road near Lomax AME Zion Church will increase.
As for biking, it’s nice to know that the Four Mile Run Trail is nearby and that a stretch of Shirlington Road has bike lanes. But the planned bike lanes on Glebe Road are a prescription for more crashes at the off ramps.
To mitigate the risks and improve traffic flow the County plans to improve traffic signalization at the intersection of S. Glebe and 24th Road. But Tables 12 and 13 show virtually no improvement in LOS, delay or queuing counts with this measure.
Bottom line. If you believe the Hotel Pentagon site is walkable, I have some real estate at the I395 off ramp I’d like to show you.