Arlington County in Virginia is diving into an 18-month planning process to refresh Arlington’s transportation plan and reestablish priorities to guide transportation investments for the next 20 years. The process is being promoted as a campaign known as Arlington’s Transportation Future and the refreshed plan will be brought to the county’s board for adoption coming in mid-2026.
The current Master Transportation Plan was adopted in 2007 and since, the Arlington community and its transportation network have grown and changed. The refreshed plan, informed by community feedback, will articulate the guiding vision and goals for transportation projects and corridor studies, shape best practices and will incorporate board-adopted priorities and resolutions for Vision Zero, equity, accessibility and climate resiliency.
The refreshed plan will work to integrate the six separate sub-elements of the 2007 plan into one cohesive document. Arlington County notes it will take a holistic approach to addressing the needs of a multimodal network, including the many ways people get around within the physically constrained public right-of-way. It will use best practices from peer communities to address how people’s travel patterns have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan will also create policies and metrics to guide how staff make transportation decisions.
The plan will also incorporate new transportation technologies that have been introduced since 2007. These services include ride-hailing, shared and micromobility devices like rental scooters, electric and autonomous vehicles and app-based delivery services that have increased the demand for street and curbside space. The plan will also build upon and bring together the ongoing work from the Vision Zero Action Plan, Transit Strategic Plan and other parts of the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
Arlington County notes the first step in the process will include engagement with the community with open house events at Central Library and Arlington Mill Community Center, supported by a series of pop-up events around the county and will include opportunities to share feedback through an online questionnaire and interactive map.
