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Fairfax County residents could soon avoid rush-hour detours caused by cut-through traffic restrictions on their own streets.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, Feb. 18, to begin accepting neighborhood petitions in July for a new permit program. The change will allow qualifying residents to seek exemptions while restrictions remain in effect for other drivers.
Fairfax County’s Residential Traffic Administration Program lets eligible residential streets limit non-local traffic. To qualify, a street must meet standards that include a 25-mph speed limit, at least 150 cut-through trips in one direction during an hour and the availability of a reasonable alternative route.
Only three restricted areas, covering 325 properties, currently participate:
- Sleepy Hollow Road, Carolyn Drive and Nicholson Street in Lake Barcroft
- Columbia Pike, Downing Street and Oxford Street in Annandale
- Algonquin Parkway and Thomas Avenue in Great Falls
Other neighborhoods have requested restrictions or are considering them.
Under the current rules, prohibited turns apply to everyone during designated periods, including residents traveling to or from their homes. Dranesville District Supervisor James Bierman called the exemption program another tool for managing neighborhood traffic.
Bierman said some residents have resisted restrictions because they could face rush-hour detours of up to 40 minutes simply to reach home. He suggested that exemptions could make the restrictions more appealing in McLean, Great Falls and portions of the Herndon area.
When supervisors discussed the proposal a year earlier, county staff reported seven neighborhood requests covering about 1,300 homes awaiting consideration, although some have since become inactive.
Support and opposition emerge
Several speakers from the Great Falls area near the Loudoun County border supported permits for local residents during the public hearing. Some Carolyn Drive residents opposed the change.
Lamya Moosa called the program “a solution without a problem” and voiced strong opposition. Neighbor Gabriella Hammack also questioned its necessity.
Hammack argued that outside drivers who see residents making otherwise restricted turns may feel encouraged to disregard the rules themselves.
County staff offered a mixed assessment of the program’s equity implications. Exemptions could help neighborhoods remove cut-through traffic without penalizing their own residents, staff said, but displaced drivers could create new problems on nearby roads.
Neighborhoods must petition the county
The adopted rules require interested neighborhoods to petition the Board of Supervisors and undergo a public hearing before exemptions can be approved. Supervisors will retain discretion over whether to authorize each request.
Neighborhoods with existing restrictions and those applying for new ones will both be eligible. Communities seeking new restrictions may request resident permits during their initial application or after the restrictions take effect.
Eligible residents will pay $24 annually for a permit. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation will administer the program with the Virginia Department of Transportation.
County staff estimates that establishing and operating the program will cost FCDOT about $3,000 each year, primarily for signs, decals and other materials.
The General Assembly authorized localities to exempt residents from cut-through restrictions in 2019. Emergency vehicles and buses are already automatically exempt.