Photo: Park Avenue at the Little Falls Street intersection towards N Washington Street, taken July 2026.

Summary

The completed final plan for the Park Avenue Great Streets project became available to the public at the July 1, 2026, Planning Commission meeting. The project will give the one-third mile section of Park Avenue from N Virginia Avenue to N Washington Street a complete makeover, as follows:

The road will be repaved, and the 20-foot wide travel lanes will be marked with sharrows similar to what exist today. The speed limit will remain 20mph. There will not be separate bike lanes. Raised crosswalks will be installed at two intersections.
All utilities are to be underground, and sections of storm drains will be replaced.
The traffic lights at Little Falls Street will be replaced with four-way stop signs.
Four street trees, including two recently planted at Mary Riley Styles Library, will be removed, but more than 30 street trees will be planted.
New ADA-compliant sidewalks that are 5-to-7 feet wide will replace the existing walkways, except in Cherry Hill Park and along the City Hall site.

Unlike earlier plans, the final plans do not include the street and sidewalks along Cherry Hill Park and the City Hall where there are several mature trees. This ensures that the trees are not harmed.

Staff are now in the process of acquiring temporary construction easements and permanent easements for utilities from property owners. Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2027 or early 2028.

Background

In the 2014 update of a chapter of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, Park Avenue was identified as one of the City’s Civic Great Streets. That designation allowed the City to apply for certain grants to improve the street. These grants allowed the City to initiate the Park Avenue Great Streets project that focuses on the section of Park Avenue from N Virginia Avenue to N Washington Street. In 2020, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) awarded the City $8.3 million for the project.

Park Avenue Great Streets Project location — The Park Avenue Great Streets Project covers one-third miles of Park Avenue, from N Virginia Avenue to N Washington Street.

The public first learned of the project in 2022 when the 60% plan was presented to City Council. [See the Pulse post Park Avenue Great Streets 60% Design, March 31, 2023.] Reaction was mixed. Installing new sidewalks along Cherry Hill Park and City Hall would threaten several mature trees. With the City rapidly losing old canopy due to development, preserving these trees was considered by many to be crucial.

Also, the use of brick pavers for sidewalks and crosswalks was criticized as hazardous and expensive to maintain. (This criticism subsequently led to new sidewalk and crosswalk standards for the City in 2025, reported here.) There was also the suggestion that Park Avenue could serve as a gathering place, to which the Farmers Market could move on Saturday mornings. This was soundly rejected by the property owners on Park Avenue whose permission would have been required.

The final plan was made available to the Planning Commission at its July 1, 2026, meeting. There was no discussion or presentation at that time. As a public works project, the plan does not require formal approval from the City Council or the Planning Commission. Because of its funding source, the Park Avenue Great Streets project also does not need approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

The project is now in its next phase: right-of-way acquisition from property owners affected by the construction.

A scaled back final plan for Park Avenue

The main difference between the 100% plan and the 60% plan is that it leaves Cherry Hill Park and most of the area along City Hall untouched. As a result, Park Avenue’s mature trees should be minimally impacted by the construction. The project will involve demolishing and rebuilding one-third of a mile of the road.

The road will be repaved with roadbed reconstruction where needed.
The design includes bump-outs to narrow intersections and create parking bays to slow traffic. The resulting travel lanes are 20 feet wide with a speed limit of 20mph.
All utilities will be underground, including electric and telecommunications cables.
In many places, gas, water lines, storm and sanitary pipes will be replaced.
Traffic lights at Little Falls Street and Park Avenue will be replaced with four-way stop signs.
There will not be separate bike lanes. Sharrows will be painted, as exist today.
Crosswalks at N Virginia and Little Falls Street intersections will be raised. Crosswalks will follow the new City standards – colored stamped asphalt.
All intersections will be narrowed by installing bump-outs, except at N Washington Street.
All sidewalks, except those in Cherry Hill and along City Hall, will be replaced with ADA-compliant sidewalks that are 5-to-7 feet wide. They will be concrete with brick bands, in accordance with the new City standards. Public benches are also in the design.
Two of the recently planted street trees at Mary Riley Styles Library will be removed to make the parking space a little longer. They will not be replaced.
More than 30 street trees will be planted on both sides of the street.

Falls Church City streetscape standards for crosswalks and sidewalks 2025. — Source: Falls Church City Streetscape Design Standards, 2025.

Project funding

When the project was first proposed in 2020, it was budgeted at $11,510,000. It received $2.8 million from Smart Scale grants and $8.3 million from NVTA. The City’s share of the project at that time was $410,000.

Project manager Ryan Borugerdi says that the project budget has not been updated. It will likely be revised once bids are received. He pointed out that a few factors may help to contain costs: The removal of Cherry Hill Park and City Hall paths from the project and the use of concrete for the sidewalks and stamped asphalt crosswalks instead of all-brick surfaces.

Project schedule

Mr. Borugerdi says that staff are now beginning the right-of-way acquisition stage of the project. The City needs to negotiate with all the property owners for temporary easements during construction and permanent easements for utilities. Twenty-four properties have been identified, some having multiple owners. He expects these negotiations to take a year. Then there will be a call for construction bids. VDOT will be involved in the reviews so that will add time to the process. Mr. Borugerdi estimates construction will begin late 2027 or early 2028.

Drawings and renderings

The rendering of the N Virginia Avenue intersection below, provided in the 60% plan, is no longer accurate but helps to visualize the curbs, bump-outs and sidewalk in the new Park Avenue design. However, in the final plan, the crosswalk design is red and white striped stamped asphalt, and the sidewalk is concrete with brick bands. Also, the planter beds will be flush with the ground and not have a raised border. The white cuboid columns have been removed. The streetlight and bench designs are correct. The final plan drawing for this intersection is shown below.

Park Avenue 60% design intersection — 60% Plan: Intersection at N Virginia Avenue. Mary Riley Styles Library is at the bottom of the picture. All-brick surfaces are no longer in the final plan.

100 percent final plan of N Virginia and Park intersection. — Final Plan: Intersection at N Virginia Avenue. Final plan no longer uses all-brick sidewalks and crosswalks.

The image below shows the drawings of the various sections of Park Avenue that will be redone. Note how the sidewalk and plantings have been bumped out to narrow the street and create parking bays. The drawings also show existing trees (numbered) and new street trees and plantings. Street trees include maples (AR), honey locusts (GT), London planes (PA), white oaks (QA) and willow oaks (QP). The trees to be removed are marked with a red ‘X’. Also, public benches are marked on the drawing.