Alexandria leaders like to think of themselves as being ahead of the curve on municipal trends. Take, for example, cameras installed at four traffic intersections to snap photos of automobiles that run red lights. The city government was the second jurisdiction to implement the program back in 1997. Until the General Assembly pulled the plug on the program in 2005, the cameras yielded 71,247 citations. Now that the General Assembly has given the green light to jurisdictions to reestablish the program, city leaders are eager to turn the cameras back on — just as soon as Gov. Tim Kaine signs the bill, which he is expected to do.
“I’d like to see us expand the program and install these cameras in more intersections,” said Councilwoman Del Pepper. “People think that this is some sort of money-making operation but it’s not. We barely make enough to pay for the cost of the program. This is more about safety.”
Once a traffic light is turned red, a pair of detection strip triggers the camera to shoot two photos capturing the date, time and speed of the red-light runner. When the program was originally implemented in November 1997, three intersections were targeted: South Patrick Street at Gibbon Street, Seminary Road at Mark Center Drive and Duke Street at Walker Street. In March 2004, officials added Duke Street at West Taylor Run Parkway.
“The citation is not a traditional moving violation,” said Amy Bertsch, spokeswoman for the Alexandria Police Department. “It’s more like a parking citation because the driver is not reported to the insurance company and no points are assessed by the DMV.”
____________
Parking to Post
Fresh from the mail call: The United States Postal Service is considering two possible locations for the new Old Town post office: 200 North Washington St. — formerly an Office Depot — and 277 South Washington St. — also known as the Atrium Building. Although Old Town businessman Bert Ely said he wasn’t wildly crazy about the two possibilities, he told members of City Council that he has a preference.
“Of the two locations, I and many others lean toward the Atrium location primarily because there is a reasonable amount of metered on-street parking near that location,” he told council members during a Feb. 24 public hearing at City Hall. “While the other location might be easier to build out, it has a decided lack of on-street parking.”
In May, the Postal Service informed the city government that the owner of the building where the George Mason Station is located — the first floor of the old George Mason Hotel — would not be renewing its lease for the property. Since then city officials and federal bureaucrats have been trying to find a new site. Ely has spoken at several public hearings trying to make sure that Old Town has a conveniently located post office.
“I would urge the council to spend a few extra bucks to put the new post office in the Atrium Building rather than going with the absolute cheapest location,” said Ely.
_________________
A Spectator Stadium?
In 2005, the City Council voted to approve a concept plan for an $11.2 million citywide sports complex with a host of bells and whistles: a rectangular multi-use field, a synthetic turf field, stadium seating, public restrooms, concession stands, two lighted fields, on site parking and even a press box. Current plans call for seating for 2,000 people with end-zone turnaround spectator spaces — with the potential to add 1,000 more spectator spaces in the future.
“Putting millions into one new field and a 3,000-seat stadium does not make much sense when the need is for a substantial number of new fields,” Seminary Hills resident Jack Sullivan told members of City Council during a Feb. 24 public hearing. “We should be accommodating people who play, not people who watch.”
The City Council is set to finalize a design for the complex later this year, a project that will be funded with $6.2 from city coffers and $5 million from Capital Development Foundation — a nonprofit organization that has pledged to raise at least 75 percent of the $5 million total before city leaders start seeking bids on the project. City Council members expect to review a special-use permit for the complex before the end of June.
“It makes little sense to me to put all our sports eggs into one basket — even if it does have a press box and a fancy concession stand that sells corn dogs, a personal favorite, ” said Sullivan.