The Park Avenue 60% design, from Volkert, Inc. with input from the City staff, was released to the public in March 2023.

The 60% Design

The main design components are:

All utility poles will be removed. Utility lines will be buried.
All intersections will have bulb-outs, and entire Park Avenue intersections will be raised with raised crosswalks.
Brick sidewalks – 6 feet for trees, planters, light poles, trash cans; 6-foot pedestrian walkway.
Parking spaces maintained, continue current shared lanes for bikes and cars. 15mph speed limit proposed.
Realignment of the North Maple Avenue and Park Avenue intersection.
Trees around the library are to be removed and replaced with planters. Some new trees to be planted elsewhere. Construction effects on existing trees remains unclear.
Traffic lights at Little Falls Street and Park Avenue to be replaced with all-way stop signs.

Park Avenue 60% Design Sidewalk — Proposed Park Avenue sidewalk

The image above shows a flushed curb with bollards separating pedestrians from the traffic. This design is proposed to allow the street to be used for other purposes such as a farmers market. Note also the large bike lane markings or “Super Sharrows”.

Proposed Park Avenue intersection at North Virginia Avenue

This image above shows the bulb-outs proposed at all intersections and the raised crosswalk to slow traffic. Also, note that the trees around the library have been replaced by planters.

Proposed streetscape assumes a minimum setback of 16 ft

The streetscape proposed is a minimum of 16 ft wide, divided into a 6 ft amenity zone, a 6 ft pedestrian zone and 4 ft building zone. The amenity zone also buffers pedestrians from the traffic.

Note that the small area plan for Park Avenue has a goal of encouraging development on Park Avenue that interacts with pedestrians, thereby making Park Avenue a pedestrian friendly street.

Proposed installation of public artwork in the streetscape

Landscape Plans

Trees marked TP-X are to be removed. TP-C means the tree could be critically damaged. TP-A means a tree is minimally impacted, TP-B trees are moderately impacted. The City arborist’s comments on the Park Avenue Great Streets 60% Design may be found here.

The plan above shows that 3 trees at the library are to be removed and replaced with planter boxes.

The plan above shows a number of TP-C trees, critically impacted, around the intersection of Little Falls Street and Park Avenue. A number of new trees will be planted.

This plan shows the modifications to the intersection with N Maple Avenue. This has been a problem intersection in the City because of the alignment of the roads. The modifications here will require negotiation with landowners at the intersection. A number of trees are also critically impacted by the sidewalk construction here.

References

The complete 60% Design may be viewed at the Falls Church City website here.

Detailed and complete documents on the project are available on the City webpage.

The landscape plans pages are available here.