If you have had to visit the Kaiser building and had trouble finding it, you aren’t alone. I have a good vantage point on the confusion every morning and afternoon and see every five minutes a new visitor, eyes down on an undetailed GPS map, slowing down to a crawl in the right lane, and carrying on an internal discussion about whether or not to turn right. The wanderer often ends up second guessing themselves, realizing their mistake, and double taking to turn back around at the Harris Teeter next door.
So what’s the problem?
No alerting sign letting the hundreds of visitors each day know that the entrance is the next right. I know us Fairfax resident’s are particular about our signs… like this incident in the summer , or the absence of them this election but this absence of a sign is going to end up with someone hurt. I’ve already witnessed two separate incidents of drivers slamming on their brakes to make a quick right into the facility at the irking of those behind them.
There is a bit of a conundrum. Fairfax believes this neighborhood is not a mixed use one (even though there is a high rise condo with a grocery store next door) therefore this change in use requires a screening buffer. Ok, I live in the above mentioned condo, and I appreciate the fact that the tree lined street is not disturbed for the sake of seeing the concrete parking garage for the building, but can there be some kind of compromise in the street? A sign that is nice, and fits in, but also says “Kaiser Permanente” so that visitors can stop pulling stunt driver maneuvers in the middle of Westpark Drive?
Based on some of the signs being put up by VDOT to let people know that the Lexus lanes are open, towering over the road in the most beautiful of cheap aluminum and steel, intricate black electric panels, I think it wouldn’t hurt the aesthetic quality of Westpark to have an appropriate sign at the entrance.
Until which time the sign and VDOT folk start using their brains, here are some photos from each side of the entrance to let you know when to turn. Let others know so that hopefully we can avoid an incident in the future. Maybe the Google streetview car will come through sometime and update their streetview to help resolve the problem that Fairfax isn’t.
If you would like to know more about the new Kaiser Permanente campus in Tysons Corner (see more)