Alexandria may eliminate traffic control officers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Alexandria's City Council will soon take a vote that could eliminate the city's traffic control officers. It's a budgetary move to save funds, but a move Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille says will have an impact on traffic.

Since 2001, Alexandria has been using a traffic program known as "GRIP," or the Gridlock Reduction Intervention Program, to keep traffic moving at key intersections during the evening commute.

Some of the locations traffic officers are currently used include the intersections of King Street and Washington Street, Gibbon Street and Washington Street and along the Route 1 corridor.

The officers are there to prevent drivers from blocking intersections and making illegal turns.

City Manager James Hartmann recently wrote: "Alexandria is subject to major traffic backups caused by inclement weather, incidents, or accidents on or near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Route 1, and the Capital Beltway. Such incidents frequently cause gridlock on city streets during the evening rush hour. The GRIP program provides a unique level of service in this region."

"It has been very successful," Euille tells WTOP. "But each year, the program has been reduced.

"The city manager is now asking managers to find some cost savings, and the police say this program is no longer necessary."

It's estimated that GRIP costs Alexandria about $100,000 a year -- all of that money paid in overtime. Alexandria is currently facing a $10.5 million budget shortfall.

The fear is that taking the officers away could lead to increased congestion in what is an already crammed area during the afternoon rush.

"However, the folks that ride those roads have become accustomed to the traffic patterns there and have better disciplined themselves," says Euille.

A final decision on whether to keep the GRIP program in place will come at a city council meeting on Nov. 19.

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)