County officials are preparing for the final phase of a nearly 20-year effort to improve conditions for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists along Wilson Blvd.
“The goal is to start in late summer — late July or sometime in August,” said Gabriela Kock, the county government’s project manager for the streetscape project.
The last stretch focuses on Wilson Blvd from N. Kenmore Street to 10th Street N., along with 10th Street N. between N. Jackson Street and N. Ivy Street. Previous improvement efforts have delivered upgrades to the Wilson Blvd corridor as far west as N. Quincy Street.
Major components of the upgrade, according to county staff:
- Removing utility poles from sidewalks, burying and upgrading utilities, and upgrading signals and streetlights
- Widening sidewalks within the project limits to match improvements completed west of N. Kenmore Street
- Removing the “slip lane” on Wilson Blvd approaching 10th Street N., and on 10th Street N. turning left onto Wilson Blvd, to improve predictability and reduce confusion between drivers and pedestrians
The project will not reduce the total number of travel lanes along the roadway.
Information on the latest phase was detailed as a June 3 online community forum, where staff predicted the work would wrap up by late 2028, depending on weather conditions.
Kock said while the project’s start is imminent, there are still preliminary steps to be accomplished.
“There’s definitely a lot of coordination that needs to happen because of all the impacts the project will have,” she said. “There’s a lot of things happening within close proximity of the project area.”
The county’s effort, financed with local dollars, will coordinate with the Bingham Center project at Wilson and 10th Street N., as well as a future county transportation project at Fairfax Drive and Kirkwood Road.
Improving Wilson Blvd was a key component of the Virginia Square Sector Plan, adopted by the County Board in 2002.
Kock acknowledged the challenges for those using the corridor:
“[It is] not a very friendly environment for pedestrians. We have uneven travel lanes, we have very reduced sidewalks. One of the things that is challenging in this environment is that our utilities are very old — overhead utilities, street lights, signals have been there for decades.”
Claudia Pors, who is handling the county government’s communications on the project, fielded questions during the 60-minute forum.
Asked how much focus there would be on tree-planting activity, Pors said planners expected some new street trees, but said they’re limited by the narrow sidewalk right-of-way.
“We’re putting trees where we can,” she said.
At the project’s start, the major impacts will be work to dig trenches for utility undergrounding and then constructing sidewalk improvements, Kock said.
Work hours will be limited to weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., with weekend work only done in “special circumstances” with advance notice from the contractor to the county and residents.
