Request to Add 14 Resilience Projects for the City of Alexandria
Mr. Matt Dalon
Resilience Planning Program Manager
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
600 East Main Street, 4th Floor
Richmond, 23219
November 15, 2022
Dear Mr. Dalon,
Thank you for providing the opportunity to comment on the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan, Phase One, December 2021.
The City of Alexandria is located within the jurisdiction of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (PDC 8) and defined as a “Coastal City” per the Code of Virginia 28.2-100. The City has recently experienced more severe (100- and 500-year storms) and frequent (multiple times in the same summer) storm events which cause our sewers and local waterways to become overrun with floodwaters. These flood events damage and total property, including vehicles, homes, and infrastructure, as well as, causing health and human hazards, including restricting emergency vehicle access, performing swift water rescues, and water blowing out windows of homes and buildings. As a densely populated, highly urban City with over 10,000 citizens per square mile, these storm events have placed an ever-increasing pressure on our public infrastructure and resources. In 2021, the City launched the Flood Action Alexandria program to identify and accelerate civil engineering projects to help mitigate flooding caused by climate change induced storm events. Two such projects were identified as “Projects” in the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan, Phase One, December 2021: Flooding Capacity Project Design: (1) Commonwealth Ave. & E. Glebe Rd. and (2) Ashby St. & E. Glebe Rd. The other two projects included focus on the Potomac River waterfront flood mitigation project which works to help mitigate the impacts of climate change-induced sea level rise.
We respectfully request Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation consider 14 additional coastal resilience-focused projects for inclusion into the Master Plan. These projects range in total implementation cost from $1 million to $60 million with a combined total of $141,420,000. These projects, which all help mitigate flooding and help create a more resilient Coastal Virginia, are as follows:
DeWitt Ave. Storage and Conveyance
E. Monroe and Wayne St. Conveyance
East Mason Ave. Storage
Edison St. and Dale St. Storage and Conveyance
Hooff's Run Culvert Bypass
Mt. Vernon, E. Glendale, E. Luray, E. Alexandria S
Notabene Dr. and Old Dominion Blvd.
Russel Rd. and W. Rosemont Conveyance
Russell Rd. and W. Rosemont Storage
Hume Ave. Stormdrain Bypass & Check Valve
Mt. Vernon Cul-de-sac Inlets and Alley
Mount Vernon Dual Corrugated Metal Pipe Culvert Replacement and Optimization
Nethergate Sewer Improvement
Pitt and Gibbon Sewer Improvement?
The City is aggressively working to become a more resilient city in the face of climate change through Flood Action Alexandria. By updating the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan, Phase One, December 2021, with these additional projects, Virginia DCR will provide greater transparency for the types of projects and resources required to work towards building a more resilient coastal Virginia.
