A representative tells ARLnow that residents may be able to start moving in this April, with interior finishing touches occurring through the summer.
“We’re in the home stretch,” says Joe Muffler, the Mid-Atlantic senior managing director of development for Mill Creek Residential. “We’re on schedule if not even slightly ahead.”
External construction will be done in the first three months of 2023 and internal finishes will be done in late summer.
Those who have driven on N. Kirkwood Road recently may have noticed people in orange vests conducting traffic and replacing asphalt, known as mill and overlay.
“We did the mill and overlay last week, and we’re working with utilities and utility connections, doing streetscape elements,” Muffler said. “That’s the big stuff right now.”
“The puzzle is not complete until YMCA advances. We’ve constructed an alley on the north side and a pedestrian alley on the west side,” Muffler said. “Eventually those will connect… those are streets the county will have for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”
The multimodal path through the developments in the block bounded by Washington Blvd and N. Kirkwood Road (via Arlington County, edited by ARLnow)
After dealing with the “continuous challenge” of supply chain and labor shortage issues, Mill Creek Residential is “excited to bring more people to the neighborhood starting early next year,” Muffler said.
Protesters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the county jail, will be ending voluntary cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a letter to local activists and lawyers, Sheriff Beth Arthur said she will be updating ASCO policy regarding undocumented people after consulting with her attorney.
“The ASCO will no longer recognize any ‘voluntary action’ requests from ICE nor place the information in our records management system,” she said. “The sheriff’s office will no longer contact ICE for any releases from our facility, to include felony charges.”
The Sheriff’s Office will however “continue to follow state code and submit any required information to ICE and the Virginia State Compensation Board” and “continue to honor any judicially signed warrants from ICE, which will be treated like any other detainer,” the letter says.
“While there is more work to do to achieve all possible protections for people at risk of criminalization at the county level, this is a major win for Arlington County migrant communities,” they said. “We hope that this ongoing community effort will be a model for an ‘Arlington way’ where the people, particularly those who are most harmed by state violence in its different forms, are part of decision-making and leading changes toward truly just, safe and strong communities.”
The move comes after the Arlington County Board approved a “Trust Policy” limiting police cooperation with ICE this summer.
As part of the policy, the County Attorney will review relevant warrants, court orders and subpoenas received by county government offices, other than the police department, to determine if compliance with the federal immigration agency is required.
Officers can only notify ICE with approval from an on-duty watch commander or a supervisor ranked lieutenant or above. Cases must involve an undocumented immigrant who has committed a felony or has been deported before, or someone who was arrested on a violent felony, street gang offenses or a non-violent felony with a community safety, terrorism or human trafficking threat.
Violations of the policy will be investigated by the county or in the case of police, by the Community Oversight Board. Findings will go to the County Board.
At the time, activists criticized the policy for not requiring ASCO to stop notifying ICE when undocumented immigrants are released from jail, which they said led to “a breakdown of trust” in the migrant community.
Well look what we have here—the Arlington Sheriff ends its voluntary cooperation with ICE, which led to so many unjust detentions and deportations. Big ups to @LaColectiVA703@LegalAidJustice@NLGnews and all the other advocates who made this happen. Incredible! pic.twitter.com/PZX5Aw6pUT
Now, Arthur says the forthcoming changes respond to the “impactful experiences that individuals and families in the community have had to face regarding ICE interactions.”
“I am extremely passionate about my role as Sheriff which includes ensuring the safety and security of the individuals in our custody as well as the citizens of Arlington County,” she said. “I pride myself on making informed decisions that benefit the communities I represent, which has led me to making the changes noted above.”
On Monday, a day before the date on Arthur’s letter, emails between members of the Arlington County Board and Legal Aid Policy regarding the decision to end ICE collaboration were reprinted in the conservative news site Breitbart.
Per the site, the emails — obtained by the conservative nonprofit Immigration Reform Law Institute — reveal “the extent to which Arlington County Board members are working hand-in-hand with activists from the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) to protect illegal aliens arrested for crimes from being turned over to [ICE] agents.”
Per the county’s 2022 budget, $25,000 would go to LAJC for offer legal aid and information to “help low-income immigrant workers and their families build assets and increase self-sufficiency.”
Swyft Cities gondola system (via Swyft Cities/Twitter)
We may not get a gondola over the Potomac River anytime soon, but a new startup may make intra-county gondola travel a reality someday.
Swyft Cities promises to provide one- to five-mile aerial connections around “densely developed areas, including corporate campuses, airports, universities and tourism districts,” according to TechCrunch, which named the startup the winner of a transit-oriented pitch contest earlier this year.
Swyft says it offers low-cost, automated kit-of-parts gondolas that private organizations and governments can set up. Its founders are commercializing the gondola solution they developed while working at Google to connect the tech company’s campuses, per its website.
Swyft Cities is here to revolutionize transportation and real estate! An innovative gondola system combines autonomous pods w/ lightweight, fixed cable infrastructure to move passengers efficiently w/ significantly lower cost-per-mile & less emissions than traditional options.👇 pic.twitter.com/AlZ6yucOML
On social media, the company recently received some praise but also some flak for overcomplicating public transit. There were also some predictions that the concept will never get off the ground.
The startup says it will deploy its first systems next year. Should it turn to Arlington and its adoring fans of short-distance aerial transit, here’s where Swyft infrastructure could work.
Current view of Route 1 (via National Landing BID)
Crystal City
If any company could stand up a gondola, it’s JBG Smith. The developer is already spearheading efforts to make Route 1 safer for pedestrians and to bring 5G connectivity to Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, creating the nation’s first at-scale “Smart City.”
Automated gondolas could clinch transit safety and make the “smart city” even smarter. Bridging Route 1 with a gondola would probably be easier, faster and safer for pedestrians than VDOT’s current plans to bring elevated portions at-grade.
Or, Swyft could run a gondola parallel to the proposed pedestrian path to Reagan National Airport, making the “CC2DCA” connection even more convenient.
The Helix and all three office buildings, viewed from the south (via Arlington County)
Pentagon City
Amazon could take cues from Google when building its HQ2. Imagine the collaborative work that could take place as employees glide from the glassy double-helix to nearby office towers. It could also provide unparalleled views of the helix — whenever it is open to the public.
Swyft CEO Jeral Poskey told TechCrunch that the company is first targeting closed campuses.
“As you look to densify things, you have a lot of congestion and difficulty moving around, and this applies to a lot of universities, airports and other places within a one to five mile scale,” he said.
Sunset along Columbia Pike (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
On Columbia Pike
Maybe the streetcar was canned for a reason. And maybe that reason was so a gondola could one day reduce congestion and stimulate revitalization, without taking up the same lane as vehicle traffic.
Swyft says the gondolas could cost up to $10 million per mile, according to TechCrunch. While the number calls to mind initial quotes for tunnels built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company — which at this point look too good to be true — a gondola at this price on the Pike would cost a fraction of the $500 million streetcar that never was.
The startup’s CEO says the competitive pricing is supposed to allow the private sector to build aerial transit without government funding. That may make it a better sell to the Arlington County Board.
A smaller home flanked by newer, larger construction in the Halls Hill neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Households of color face significant barriers to homeownership, according to a new report from Arlington County.
A division of Arlington’s planning division, Housing Arlington, conducted the study to understand trends in the local homeownership market. The report, released earlier this fall, was the first step in a multi-phase homeownership study that kicked off this summer.
“We know that the benefits of homeownership are exponential and home ownership is one of the most effective ways to build generational wealth in this country,” said county planner Akeria Brown, discussing the report in a recent Housing Commission meeting. “We also know that many households, minority households in particular, were not or traditionally have not been afforded opportunities to be able to purchase in this environment.”
Racially restrictive deeds excluded certain racial and ethnic groups, particularly Black people, from certain neighborhoods last century, while certain zoning policies, at least to an extent, had the same practical effect. Arlington County maintains that there is a strong relationship between these older policies and today’s lack of homeownership opportunities for households of color.
While the county has a number of programs to help people earning below 80% of the area median income access homeownership, such as by providing counseling and helping households make down-payments, the aim of this study is to gauge their efficacy, improve them and potentially launch new ones.
“We want to look at ways to support moderate-income households to be able to build generational wealth, to build that long-term housing and financial stability and take advantage of incentives that go along with home-ownership to right some of those issues that have occurred along the way,” Brown said.
Before staff could do that, they needed to go beyond the data points showing lower homeownership rates among households of color.
Staff cited data showing that banks are less likely to lend money to Black and Hispanic borrowers when they are buying a home or refinancing.
Black and Latino households had the highest mortgage application denial rates, 9.3% and 7.2%, respectively, compared to non-Hispanic white borrowers, 2.7%, and those of Asian descent, 3.9%.
“The leading reason for loan application denial in 2021 was insufficient income to meet lender requirements, followed by incomplete credit applications and credit history issues,” the county report said.
Mortgage approval and denial rates in Arlington by race and ethnicity (via Arlington County)
Black and Latino households also obtained 30-year loans with higher interest rates than other borrowers on average.
About two-thirds of mortgages originated in 2021 were for refinancing existing homes when interest rates were low. Application denial rates were higher across the board, but still divided along racial and ethnic lines.
Interest rates were higher in relatively lower income neighborhoods including Buckingham, Halls Hill, and Glebewood, as well as the western portion of the Columbia Pike corridor and the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
In addition, homeownership rates are lowest in Arlington’s three historically Black neighborhoods, noted Mike Hemminger, the incoming president of the Arlington branch of the NAACP, in the meeting.
The county has to be intentional about reversing this trend, Alice Hogan, who sits on the Board of Directors for Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, said in the meeting.
“It’s not just about making ownership an option,” she said. “What is the demographic makeup of the folks who are going to achieve that ownership if we really want to get to the equitable piece of this?”
Rainy day in Rosslyn (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
While the pandemic prompted a well-documented exodus to, and development of, sleepy suburban and exurban towns, the Rosslyn Business Improvement District says it has identified a different Covid migration pattern.
About a quarter of Americans reported moving to cities where they could be within a 15-minute walk or bike ride of grocery stores, healthcare and parks, according to a national survey by the BID.
The survey also found 41% plan on moving to be within walking or biking distance of their preferred amenities — including coffee shops, schools and gyms — in the next one to three years. That’s in contrast with places that prioritize mobility by motor vehicle, with sidewalks and bike lanes as a relative afterthought.
Amenities that Americans want within 15 minutes of them (via Rosslyn BID)
The idea of being in a place within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from these amenities, dubbed a “15-minute city,” was developed by French-Colombian academic Carlos Moreno. He says his aim is to “rebalance” localities that have been designed to boost productivity rather than well-being. The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, popularized his idea when lockdowns kept people closer to home than usual, and efforts to realize Moreno’s idea took hold there and in otherEuropeancities.
Arlington County Planning Commission member Daniel Weir embraces the concept, saying it is better for people and the environment.
“Cities are for people, not cars, and we should be able to get our needs met within a 15-minute walk or bike ride,” he said. “Once upon a time, in living memory for our grandparents, every city in America — from Luray, Virginia to Manhattan — was a 15-minute city. Sometime after the war, we got the idea that cities were about highways and cars, and people had to make way. Now, we’re seeing auto-oriented infrastructure and development is one of the most flawed social experiments of all time.”
Arlington is now trying to at least partially unwind auto-oriented development along Langston Blvd and Richmond Highway, but has yet to tackle the suburban neighborhoods that fall outside its primary planning corridors. Still, the county, which has no singular city center, has had a number of “15-minute cities” spring up through transit-oriented development, which began in the 1960s.
Transit-oriented development created compact urban villages of Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Ballston, Pentagon City and Crystal City along the Orange and Blue Metro lines, and is facilitating more development on the bus-connected Columbia Pike.
“The 15-minute city approach is consistent with many facets of the Arlington Comprehensive Plan and is more intrinsic in Arlington’s principles for compact and transit-oriented development,” says Erika Moore, a spokeswoman for Arlington County Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development.
Where the pandemic is helping advance the 15-minute city concept in Arlington is via an expansion of uses permitted in the county’s densest zoning districts.
“This is creating potential for expanded uses, including workshop spaces, breweries/distilleries, indoor agricultural such as hydroponics, and animal boarding,” she said. “This blending of retail, restaurants, entertainment, and destination uses, along with offices in smaller, non-traditional formats may prove beneficial to residents living in any of Arlington’s mixed-use corridors or in close proximity to them.”
No longer does a Rosslyn resident, for instance, need to drive to a lower-density part of Arlington to board their pet.
While Rosslyn has transformed from downtown district to 15-minute city, BID President Mary-Claire Burick says the county, property owners and the BID must keep “working together to keep our urban center active and accessible.”
Burick says her organization supports the mixed-use developments and the amenities they’re bringing.
“We support Arlington County’s planned investments in public green space and critical transportation infrastructure — such as the removal of the Fort Myer Tunnel,” she added, “and further building out Rosslyn’s network of pedestrian and bike facilities — which are essential in helping make our amenities even more accessible.”
The BID will focus on “economic resiliency efforts, as well as our community events, programming, and placemaking, all which help create an urban downtown where people want to be,” Burick said.
Despite this overage, the entire project is expected to come in at least $2 million under its overall budget.
It’s a high note to end on for the controversial project, which nearly a decade ago was put on hold after bids well exceeded the original $79.2 million budget, forcing the county to downsize its original plans.
The Arlington County Board approved the $1.2 million payment to the contractor on Saturday.
A report explaining the payment blames Dominion Energy for the delays. Dominion which was supposed to provide permanent power to the new facility by the fall of 2020, but final electrical power was not complete until July 2021.
“This delay hampered completion of critical elements” of the project, the said. “While the County generously granted additional time to the Contractor, the Contractor incurred additional costs due to the significant extension of the contract completion period and the extended general condition costs for the Contractor’s on-site construction staff.”
If the facility had gotten power on time, the county says, the $70.7 million project would have been completed months earlier and within the $5.3 million contingency budget originally approved.
Instead, the overages cost $1.8 million, wiping out the $602,000 that remained in contingencies, thus requiring the extra appropriation.
The Arlington County Board awarded a $60 million contract to design and build the facility to Coakley & Williams Construction, Inc. in November 2017. The contractor and county staff began working with Dominion Energy before construction started to ensure that electrical power could be supplied to the site when needed.
“Permanent electrical power could have been supplied to the site as early as Spring 2019 had work gone according to plan,” the report says. “Dominion received construction permits for electrical work within the right-of-way of Long Bridge Drive in Fall 2020. Work was not begun, and the permit expired. Another permit was issued to Dominion, and this also expired due to inactivity.”
By March 2021, the facility and park had permanent power, but a transformer had to be replaced in July. The facility opened on Aug. 23, 2021 and was closed for emergency electrical repairs in April.
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.
Restaurant software startup MarginEdge has raised $45 million in Series C funding, bringing the company’s total fundraising to over $70 million.
The fundraising news wraps up a busy 12 months for the 7-year-old company, which is expecting to move from Fairfax County into a new office space in Ballston this month and won accolades for its growth and office culture.
Founded and led by restaurateurs, MarginEdge offers a software product that streamlines all the back-of-house aspects of running a restaurant. It processes invoices, manages inventory, analyzes the cost and popularity of recipes, and provides budgeting, performance tracking and supplier bill payment capabilities.
“A lot of this funding will be invested in developing support and adding resources to our existing team,” co-founder and CEO Bo Davis said. “We’ve been through a huge growth spurt and feel like in many ways we have much of the team we need for the next 12 to 24 months.”
MarginEdge will hire an additional “50 or so” people throughout the year, but Davis says existing employees are doing amazing work, citing this year’s awards.
“We have an incredible team of brilliant, driven, creative, mission-oriented people who believe in what we are doing and care deeply about the customers we serve,” Davis said. “Any growth CEO will tell you scaling an organization and keeping the same passion you had when it was just a few folks on card tables in a back office somewhere to the point where you have hundreds of folks across the country is really tough. I’m proud of all of it but it’s our people and culture that makes any of our accomplishments truly special.”
The funding will also be used to add more functions and tools to its platform and expand MarginEdge’s network in the restaurant industry.
“There’s clear endorsement of our product and path, and we hope to arm our current and future clients with more ways to streamline their business,” Davis said.
MarginEdge founders Bo Davis (left) and Roy Phillips (right) (via PR Newswire)
MarginEdge’s new location will be in the top floor of an office building above Ballston Quarter mall (4200 Wilson Blvd.) — and it will have a commercial kitchen and restaurant where clients can come and cook.
“We move into our new space in just a few weeks and we are all really excited,” Davis said. “Ballston is such a vibrant neighborhood and central for so many of our local team members. We are excited to have a space built for collaboration and fits the needs of our team — plus the Capitol views aren’t bad either.”
The restaurant space is intended to celebrate the talents of MarginEdge’s clients and “keep our team really close to the end user we serve,” Davis said.
MarginEdge has 50 clients in Arlington, including South Block, Lost Dog Cafe and SER, and supports its local clients by catering lunch from them every week.
After begin recognized as a “Top Place to Work” by the Washington Post and Washington Business Journal, getting onto the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies and being recognized as a “Red Hot” local startup, Davis says MarginEdge is “excited about the year ahead.”
“There is so much on the horizon, from product improvements, to new strategic partnerships, to doubling down on current high-impact initiatives — it is going to be an amazing ride,” he said.
On Saturday, the Board approved public hearings on the change at these two public parks located, respectively, near Crystal City and along Columbia Pike.
“These sites were selected for this expansion because both are designed as event venues, which is referenced in their master plans, and both already host a variety of successful special events,” per a county report. “Additionally, it is anticipated that Penrose Square will be expanded in the near future, which will enhance its ability to host special events.”
The proposal has support from a majority of people who responded to a county survey this fall, although many respondents articulated public safety concerns.
“Many supported this change, and some felt the County should explore further expansion of the sale and consumption of alcohol and other concessions in County parks than what is currently proposed,” the report said. “Commenters opposed to the change cited concerns regarding the increased noise, potential damage to park property, unruly behavior, and a negative impact to the public’s safety and ability to enjoy parks.”
If approved, alcohol will be limited to sales at special events only during designated dates and times. Special events already require a permit, and organizers would need a separate ABC permit that provides “a controlled and delineated area for the sale and consumption of alcohol.”
Some wanted to see alcohol sales in more parks, such as Virginia Highlands Park and Lubber Run Park, provided that the rules were properly enforced. Others wanted more non-alcoholic options at events where alcohol is allowed.
“We have heard the assertions that tenants won’t be displaced, but we are asking for detailed plans for the displacement prevention,” ACE Collaborative Director Mitchell Yangson tells ARLnow, adding that rent for legacy residents should “be rolled back to a level that will prevent their displacement for as long as they live at Barcroft, not just on a temporary basis.”
Around this time last year, Jair Lynch acquired the Barcroft Apartments with the intent to renovate some units and redevelop other parts of the site with $310 million in loans from Arlington County and Amazon. It received these loans after promising to preserve at least 1,334 units for households earning up to 60% of the area median income (AMI).
But deepening affordability remains a live issue for two reasons. First, most residents make less than 60% of the area median income, according to the developer’s Master Financing and Development Plan, submitted to the county in late October — equating to $85,380 for a family of four. Second, the developer says next year it will begin phasing in 3% rent hikes.
A majority of the 1,100 residents living in Barcroft before the sale reported earning 40-50% AMI, or $56,920-$71,150 for a family of four, while some reported earning up to 30% AMI, or $42,690 for a family of four.
“There are some rent-burdened people here,” Jair Lynch Development Senior Vice President Ruth Hoang said in an Arlington Housing Commission meeting in November. “We are also concerned about overcrowding hiding some rent burden as well.”
The federal government defines being rent-burdened as spending more than 30% of one’s income on rent.
Range of incomes reported as of Oct. 1, 2022 at Barcroft (via Arlington County)
Jair Lynch and Arlington County have said that households will not be displaced. Rent in 2022 was frozen at 2021 levels, and increases capped at 3% per year will start in 2023.
The developer also says it will work on a case-by-case basis with residents who feel they cannot afford any rent hikes.
“As we roll out the 3% increases, those residents who are concerned and feel like they can’t pay, we’ll have those meetings with them and look at their incomes to see what they can and cannot support,” Hoang said.
Jair Lynch has committed to trying to find on-site options for those earning more than 60% AMI.
Per the financing report, Jair Lynch says it can still meet its original goals despite “significant economic and financial headwinds.”
These include scarcer affordable housing financing due to the more than 2.5 percentage point increase in interest rates and increases in operating and constructing housing, due to 8-10% inflation and a 15-20% increase in construction costs.
The report listed additional funding sources that could be used to deepen affordability levels, similar to those Arlington Community Foundation identified in a report showing how 255 units could be preserved for extremely low-income households, or those earning 30% AMI.
The Planning Commission on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 (via Arlington County)
A proposal to allow by-right development of “Missing Middle” housing in single-family-home neighborhoods will now head to the Arlington County Board for a first look.
A little after midnight yesterday (Thursday), the Planning Commission voted 7-2 to recommend the County Board advertise hearings on a series of proposed changes to the county’s zoning code, which would allow 2-8-unit buildings in Arlington’s lowest-density neighborhoods.
This is the next step in a years-long process to draft and potentially approve the fiercely debated plan. The County Board is expected to deliberate the request to advertise hearings as early as its meeting on Jan. 21, meaning the proposal could return to the Planning Commission and the County Board for a final vote in March.
Some who voted “nay” last night said they support this effort while others who voted “aye” indicated they may not be voting the same way in March.
“I strongly support what staff are doing and what the County Board is doing,” said Commissioner Leonardo Sarli, who voted against the advertising request. “We just need a little more time to understand what we’re signing up for and what the outcomes are going to be… I find that there’s quite a bit that’s still lacking and missing. There’s a lot left up to chance in the hope of good luck.”
Commissioner Sara Steinberger, who voted for the advertising request, said what happened last night does not necessarily reflect how she might vote in March. Commissioner Denyse “Nia” Bagley, who voted to advertise, said “I personally still am not sure that what we have in front of us now… that we’re there yet.”
Outgoing Chair Daniel Weir, who voted for the request, said he is “so thrilled to give the community the opportunity to continue this conversation.”
“I am mindful of the number of people who spoke to us on Monday, pleading with us to give them hope that they have a future in our community,” he said.
During the five-hour meeting, members of the planning body bounced around a number of recommended changes to the draft. One failed suggestion was a 4-unit cap on Missing Middle-type buildings, which the draft zoning text now calls Expanded Housing Option (EHO) dwellings.
“Notwithstanding the enormous housing crisis we face locally, regionally and nationally, I’m still uncomfortable going all the way up to six or eight units,” said Commissioner Elizabeth Gearin, who voted against the advertising request. “That’s such a dramatic change to a single-family neighborhood. Two seems very reasonable, but even our peer jurisdictions don’t know what that’s going to look like in the long term. Six to eight almost seems like a bridge too far.”
Many of these recommended changes that passed dovetailed from concerns raised by the public during Monday’s Planning Commission meeting. They are intended to promote homeowner-led development and prevent gentrification, locate 5-8-unit buildings closer to Metro, eliminate parking minimums and encourage more tree preservation.
“The many motions we’ve gone through as a group this evening are a reflection of what we heard from the community, in thinking in terms of the appropriate number of EHO dwellings could be, what we can do to protect tree canopy and other resource allocation concerns we heard from the community,” said Steinberger.
Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services Director Greg Emanuel (left) discusses with Sen. Mark Warner (right) the conditions of the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge (staff photo by Vernon Miles)
Plans to replace the nearly 70-year-old Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge are set to move forward with more than $17 million in state funding.
On Saturday, the Arlington County Board is slated to accept the state funding and adopt a resolution committing the county to pitch in local funding. The $28 million project is in an early design phase, according to the county’s project webpage.
“The Mount Vernon Avenue bridge project will replace the deteriorated roadway substructure and reuse the existing piers, which are stable,” per a county report. “The new bridge will include wider sidewalks and bike lanes in both directions.”
The project will extend the new sidewalks and bike lanes to the intersection of Arlington Ridge Road and S. Glebe Road and improve connections from the bridge to the Four Mile Run Trail, according to the county. The northern sidewalks are currently closed to prevent more wear and tear.
The Mount Vernon Avenue bridge is one of five bridges that allow vehicle traffic across Four Mile Run, between Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. It and the W. Glebe Road bridge, both built in the 1950s, were found to be structurally deficient in 2018 and identified for replacement.
“Both bridges are of a similar design and construction and have experienced significant deterioration as they approach the end of their useful life,” according to a county report.
This spring, after a number of weight and access restrictions, the W. Glebe Road Bridge was closed to allow for the replacement of the road deck and beams. Work on the Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge will begin after this bridge reopens.
“The replacement of the West Glebe Road bridge is expected to be substantially completed in fall of 2023 and will be fully open to motorized and non-motorized traffic prior to construction commencing on the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge,” per the report.
Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services posted a photo last week of concrete being poured for the bridge replacement project.
This just in from the West Glebe Road bridge. Here we see concrete being piped in from above while crews make it smooth on the bridge deck. Who wants to build their own at home with their Legos? ✋https://t.co/iBZpWFf691pic.twitter.com/ESyHwH1YqH
— Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES) December 8, 2022
The Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge will remain open to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists during construction, although there will be vehicle travel lane reductions, per the county website.
Arlington County and the City of Alexandria will hire a firm to complete the designs, which are currently 30% complete. Then, the project will go out for bid and a contractor will be selected.
“The new bridge will include integrated art elements by artist Vicki Scuri that will enhance the bridge aesthetically,” according to the county report. “The new bridge and the integrated art elements will be completed simultaneously.”
The county says her forthcoming art installation for the Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge will provide more lighting on the Four Mile Run trail and “connect the design of the bridge to the communities of Arlington and Alexandria,” per the project webpage.
Commuters may be familiar with a current example of Scuri’s work adorning a bridge over Route 50. Her work will also be incorporated into the W. Glebe Road Bridge replacement.
10th Street Bridge over Route 50 (courtesy Peter Rof/Alt Globo MediaWorks LLC)
The two bridge replacement projects are funded with a combination of local and state dollars as well as federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Joe Biden signed last year.
Of the $17.2 million in state funding that the County Board is set to appropriate, about $4.2 million comes with a local funding requirement. This will be shared equally between Arlington and Alexandria under the terms of an intergovernmental agreement that governs their joint responsibility to maintain and inspect the bridges and share short- and long-term rehabilitation and replacement costs.
