As students head back to school on Monday, new speed cameras and speed humps are intended to improve safety in Arlington school zones.
The Arlington County Police Department has installed 10 additional cameras over the summer, bringing its total number up to 28. Additionally, the county is in the process of installing new speed humps at seven locations near schools.
The speed camera on Lorcom Lane has relocated to another school zone.
The camera installed in January on the 4100 block of Lorcom Lane, near Dorothy Hamm Middle School, has moved to the northbound 1100 block of Patrick Henry Drive near Swanson Middle School in Westover Village.
New speeding cameras in Arlington have led to fines for over 7,000 drivers since September, new data shows.
As of January, Arlington County had collected $713,525 from motorists speeding in front of school zone cameras. A total of 13,627 alleged violations were prosecuted, but only 7,135 prosecutions have been successful so far, according to a Virginia State Police report.
Eight new school zone speed cameras are being installed around Arlington.
The new cameras will start issuing warnings with the start of school after winter break, before issuing $100 tickets to speeders starting Feb. 5. Today’s announcement of the new cameras follows a similar announcement in August, which revealed plans for ten cameras that are now in operation around the county.
A couple weeks after a tongue-in-cheek installation called attention to safety concerns on S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington County hosted an open house last night (Tuesday).
The theme of the event: safety along Carlin Springs.
Despite a recent investigation unearthing broad failures in a decade-long D.C. program to eliminate traffic deaths, Arlington is holding fast to its Vision Zero goals.
Both Arlington and D.C. have set goals of eradicating all vehicle crashes resulting in fatalities and severe injuries. D.C. adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in 2014 with the aim of achieving this by 2024, and Arlington adopted its own action plan in 2021 with a 2030 goalpost.
As the 2024-25 school year starts today, Arlington Public Schools is launching several new initiatives to tackle student safety and enrichment.
Approved changes for this year include a new attendance policy for high school athletic events, a new after-school program pilot, and an extra five-day weekend in November.
As students begin returning to Arlington Public Schools this coming Monday, Aug. 26, new initiatives are meant to encourage safer driving around schools this year.
Variable message boards sharing safety messaging and raising awareness about the start of the school year will appear along roads in Arlington in coming days. Ten new speed cameras have also been installed near select schools, operating when school zone lights are flashing at the beginning and end of the school day.
Cameras will start enforcing speed limits in Arlington school zones next month, more than two years after officials approved their installation.
The 10 cameras will begin operating on Sept. 25, with the owners of speeding vehicles receiving a $100 fine per infraction, a county press release says. Cameras will operate when school zone lights are flashing at the beginning and end of the school day, indicating a speed limit of 20 mph.
Widespread speed cameras and more funding for prosecutors are two emerging priorities for Arlington County during the upcoming legislative session.
The Arlington County Board got a first look at its legislative priorities during a meeting last night (Tuesday). They cover a range of topics, from funding for improving public transportation to tackling the behavioral health crisis crippling Arlington and the state.
Public safety in Arlington County is poised to be increasingly automated and unmanned, with more traffic enforcement cameras and drones potentially coming soon.
The updates came during a work session on County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed budget, attended by County Board members and heads of public safety departments yesterday (Thursday).
Arlington is proposing to lower speed limits near schools across the county to 20 mph as the county’s second year of Vision Zero enters the rear-view mirror.
This Saturday, the Arlington County Board is set to hear a proposal to expand these slow zones to all schools, after many people said they felt safer walking, biking and driving in 13 school zones where the speed limit has already dropped to 20 mph.
