Traffic study on Carlin Springs Road is delayed, pushing back potential upgrades

A study on the traffic and safety needs of Carlin Springs Road has been pushed back by over a year.

Following an open house earlier this week about safety concerns on the southern portion of Carlin Springs, county spokesperson Claudia Pors confirmed that the planned Carlin Springs Road Corridor Study will take place in Fiscal Year 2027, which starts on July 1, 2026.

It had originally been slated to begin in Fiscal Year 2025, but delays in approving a refresh of the county’s Master Transportation Plan caused the timeline to move back.

“Once we got the green light to move forward with this major effort of refreshing the MTP with a public kickoff this fall, we shifted all studies so that they will begin as or after the Transportation Plan refresh wraps up,” Pors said.

“This approach will allow complex corridor studies like the Carlin Springs Road Study to benefit from essential updated MTP guidance that considers the network needs of all modes together and, where there are overlaps in these networks, will identify which modes should be prioritized where.”

Pors noted that the county decided back in 2022 that it would delay transportation corridor studies until after refreshing the Transportation Plan.

Christopher George — a longtime advocate of safety upgrades on N. Carlin Springs Road — told ARLnow that residents in the Bluemont and Arlington Forest neighborhoods have been pushing for improvements on the northern portion of the road for over a decade.

A County Board member, he said, told the Bluemont Civic Association in May that a study on the Carlin Springs Road corridor would begin next year.

“Recently we found out that the county board moved that start date to the end 2026 without any notice or explanation,” George said. “The Bluemont Civic Association will be following up with the county board to understand why this occurred because it would help address concerns on both North and South Carlin Springs Road.”

Public engagement for the new Master Transportation Plan is slated to kick off next Tuesday, Oct. 1. It will replace the current Master Transportation Plan, adopted in 2007.

“With this plan, Arlington will be better positioned to fulfill our commitments to safety, equity, accessibility, and climate resiliency and address the transportation needs for both current and future residents,” a county project page says.

The Carlin Springs Road Corridor Study will be the first to follow the revamped Transportation Plan.

“In the meantime,” Pors said, “we are working with residents along South Carlin Springs Road to find solutions to the limited public right of way to expand the sidewalk south of Route 50 and are implementing improvements at intersections where there is more room to upgrade signals and sidewalks.”