A new traffic signal was recently installed in Tysons by Virginia Department of Transporation.

A busy intersection in Tysons is getting a much-anticipated safety upgrade.

The Virginia Department of Transportation added a new traffic signal at Westpark Drive and Westbranch Drive, which VDOT says sees more than 11,000 vehicles each day.

The installation of the upgrades was “warranted by a traffic signal study that typically evaluates intersection components such as traffic volumes, crash history, operating conditions and physical characteristics,” said Mike Murphy, of VDOT Northern Virginia Communications.

The intersection has a long history of being viewed as dangerous, and WJLA reported last spring on residents who have been calling on a traffic signal in that area for years.

Locals also weighed in on reddit about conditions at the intersection after a collision last summer:

Today’s accident on West Branch & Westpark Drive (Tyson’s). Accidents at this intersection at least once a month. from r/nova

The new changes include four Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) crossings, which are expected to be active in the coming weeks. The traffic lights will also have bicycle detection, and curbs will be upgraded to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a VDOT press release.

This is welcome news in Tysons, a census-designated place trying to shake its car-centric pesona. Efforts to become a more walkable place have required big shifts over many years. Many of those changes are reflected in Tysons’s comprehensive plan, a master planning document, which states: “In many circumstances, creating a livable and walkable place will require that the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users be given preference over the need to move people by automobile.”

Fatal crashes, especially in Fairfax County, have been of great concern for the region. Data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles database shows there were 13,303 crashes in Fairfax County in 2019, leading to 6,035 injuries and 45 fatalities. Of those fatalities, 16 involved pedestrians.

Fairfax County’s website reports 174 pedestrian crashes countywide in 2018, including 16 fatalities and 196 injuries. In 2017, there were 189 pedestrian crashes with five fatalities across the county.

Traffic signals were also installed at the intersections of Greensboro Drive and Silver Hill Drive, Jones Branch Drive and Freddie Mac Drive, and Scotts Crossing Road and Capital One Drive, Murphy said.

  • Tysons Partnership

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of Tysons underwritten by the Tysons Partnership and community partners. Greater Greater Washington maintains full editorial independence over its content.

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Tagged: bicycling, fairfax, pedestrians, public safety, roads, transit, tysons, virginia

George Kevin Jordan was GGWash's Editor-in-Chief. He is a proud resident of Hillcrest in DC's Ward 7. He was born and raised in Milwaukee and has written for many publications, most recently the AFRO and about HIV/AIDS issues for TheBody.com.