Canal Road Improvements

Brudis & Associates, Inc. (BAI) provided a comprehensive planning study with an emphasis on safety, traffic operations, drainage, erosion and slope stability to ensure a safe and protected roadway. Roadway safety, capacity and traffic operations, provisions for bicyclist and pedestrian access to adjacent Capital Crescent Trail, provisions for roadway drainage facilities, slope stability, erosion protection, and maintenance required for the short and long term operation of the roadway were examined. The study served as a guide for future and further analysis of Canal Road for DDOT. It is anticipated that portions of this study will be incorporated into the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidelines for permitting, which is required prior to engineering design and potential construction. BAI provided a comprehensive analysis of the existing conditions and developed several alternative improvements that included:

Traffic Operations and Safety Improvements: Proposed enhancements involved intersection improvements through geometric and traffic signal improvements to address the almost-daily, severe bottlenecks within the corridor, while maintaining the present “feel” of the corridor, geometric improvements to Fletcher’s Boat House/Reservoir Road configuration, contra-flow lane configuration between Foxhall Road and Whitehurst Freeway, providing signalized pedestrian crosswalk across Canal Road at Reservoir Road/Fletcher’s Boat House and update all pedestrian signals to countdown signals as necessary, add sidewalk and bicycle lanes or shared use path between Arizona Avenue and Chain Bridge, providing 10’ wide shared use path (for both pedestrians and bicyclists) along the north side of Canal Road between Foxhall Road and Whitehurst Freeway.

Geotechnical Analysis/Slope Stabilization: An alternative concept involved the installation of a tied-back soldier pile and concrete lagging retaining wall to mitigate the potential wedge failure along Canal Road just north of Clark Place NW and below Laverock Place NW, the study recommended patterned rock bolting and a reinforcement mesh. The rock bolting is intended to increase the factor of safety for a potential large-scale wedge, while the reinforcement mesh is intended to provide protection for local rock failures smaller than the rock bolting pattern spacing.