The City of Alexandria, the Alexandria School District, and Widseth are joining forces to enhance safety for students, staff, and families when walking and driving to and from Voyager Elementary School.
The intersection of Steger Road and Voyager Drive, the primary exit from Voyager Elementary School and a major crossing point for students walking and biking, has long been recognized as an area in need of safety improvements. Widseth engineer Blaine Green, along with the funding team, identified an opportunity to apply for a Safe Routes to School grant and successfully secured $369,800 in funding to support the project. With this funding now in place, improvements are underway.
Intersection of Steger Road and Voyager Drive project area.
The project will make the school-crossing area easier and safer for students and families by simplifying traffic flow, shortening the walking distance across the road, and adding features that help drivers better notice people in the crosswalk. These changes will provide a long-term solution to ongoing concerns about speed, visibility, and the complex traffic movements at the school’s primary crossing.
Widseth is also coordinating closely with the School District as it moves forward with planned improvements to the school’s parking lot, which is led by a different design team. Because both the intersection and the school grounds need updates, Widseth recommended combining efforts where possible. A win-win that supports an efficient design and construction process. Land survey work for the project is already complete, and next steps include developing conceptual designs and meeting with the City and School District to review options and gather feedback.
With strong collaboration between all partners, this project is on track for completion before the start of the 2026/2027 school year. Once finished, the upgraded intersection will create a safer, more welcoming route to school, benefiting students, families, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
