Proposed redevelopment of Holiday Inn site at intersection of Lee Highway and N. Nash

Currently, there is an informal right-turn/slip lane from N. Nash onto eastbound Lee Highway. Right now, you can see a painted outline of the enlarged southeast concrete corner that is planned to replace the lane on Nash near Lee Highway. The developers (Dittmar) say that they would be doing this because the County wants them to; it is not an integral part of the planned development. But eliminating the lane would have a very negative impact on what is soon to be an extremely busy, narrow street. The intersection is frequently gridlocked during morning rush hour, but (as currently configured) cars are able to ease into Lee Highway via the turn lane rather than waiting through multiple light cycles for the intersection to clear; this is especially important when cars attempting to cross Lee Highway are prevented from moving through the intersection and therefore block all cars behind them on Nash. The County has some aversion to slip lanes, but it has made exceptions where warranted. Perhaps this area/lane could be marked as a formal right-turn-only lane, if that were viewed as safer. In either case, it would be possible to address what will likely become an even greater traffic problem than we have now.

If we, the residents of Rosslyn, don’t want this lane eliminated, we must act. We need to let the County know how we feel. (One may write to the Board at countyboard@arlingtonva.us, and to Richard Best in Transportation Planning at Rbest@arlingtonva.us.) If you are concerned, please send this message on to others and encourage them to join you in petitioning the county to save the turn lane.

Nash Street is about to become significantly more used. The new “Holiday Inn” project will include the loading dock for a large hotel and its massive banqueting/conference facilities, and well as the parking entrance and loading dock for a 500-unit apartment complex. Theoretically, the large trucks that will be servicing the building can make a sharp turn from the narrow N. Nash onto Lee Highway without infringing on a second drive lane, but it clearly would be safer if they had a little more room to maneuver at that corner; narrowing the street near the intersection, as currently planned, is a prescription for greater problems.

In addition, Nash Street needs to be looked at in the context of future development. For example, Marriot is planning a redevelopment of its site on the north side of Lee Highway that would extend N. Nash into its property. At the other end of N. Nash is the “1401 Wilson” site that would include a grocery store near the corner of N. Nash, 19th and Key Blvd (already a seriously “problematic” intersection, as the County puts it); there is no turn lane from N. Nash onto Key Blvd; in the morning, one car turning left can cause a painful backup down Nash. We do not want that to happen at both ends of this one-block, narrow street.