Hot Lola’s new Rosslyn location on Wilson Blvd, as of February (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Hot Lola’s chicken sandwiches (photos via Hot Lola’s)
(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Rosslyn is about to get a bit more spicy with the opening of Hot Lola’s later this month.
The spicy chicken sandwich shop finally has a tentative opening date for its second Arlington location, with ownership now aiming for a soft opening on June 17, general manager Alan Vo tells ARLnow. Since they’ll still be training staff until June 21, everyone who walks in for an order during that time will get 30% off.
Hot Lola’s will be occupying 1501 Wilson Blvd at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Oak Street, sandwiched between Taco Rock and Miracles Salon. It’s the former location of Mediterranean fast casual eatery Roti, which closed in late 2021 after a decade in business there.
We first reported in February that Hot Lola’s was expanding into Rosslyn. The restaurant’s first location at the food hall inside Ballston Quarter mall opened three years ago.
The eatery from noted D.C. area chef Kevin Tien has received a number of accolades for its Sichuan-spiced, Nashville-inspired hot chicken sandwich. The eatery also sells wings, tenders, and fries.
The menus at the two locations will be similar, at least initially. Vo says they’ll introduce breakfast and “special sandwiches” at a later date at the Rosslyn location.
There will also be another difference. The Rosslyn location has applied for a Virginia ABC license to serve beer, wine, and mixed beverages, while the Ballston location does not sell alcohol.
Hot Lola’s isn the only new eatery that has or will be coming to Rosslyn. Japanese restaurant Yuraku opened last month in a somewhat-obscured space while boutique market, while cafe and high-end convenience store Foxtrot is aiming for the fall.
A driver merging across four lanes of I-395 traffic, hitting a truck (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A driver holds up traffic on I-395 in order to access the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A crash on I-395 caused by a driver crossing multiple lanes while trying to get to the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A bus driver cuts off a car while attempting a late merge onto the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
Aftermath of a driver merging across four lanes of I-395 traffic and hitting a truck, before driving off (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
Wonky GPS directions and old road design are some of the factors that have led some drivers to haphazardly cross several lanes of highway traffic at an I-395 exit, leading to multiple crashes.
Videos, captured from a Crystal City high-rise apartment by former local news reporter Dave Statter, show drivers consistently and dangerously moving across four lanes of southbound I-395 traffic specifically to make the lefthand Route 1 exit (8C).
The situation is at its most perilous when a driver is coming from Boundary Channel Drive, takes the I-395 southbound on-ramp, and realizes the exit to Pentagon City, Crystal City and Alexandria is only a few hundred feet on the left. Meaning, in order to take it, the driver has to move their car over four lanes of high speed highway traffic in a very short distance.
Some of the numerous videos Statter posts look something like a real-life game of Frogger.
“Watching these people doing this crazy dance to get to the left hand exit,” Statter says. “It’s just a constant, constant thing.”
Even when we are talking, Statter spots two more drivers attempting to make the same maneuver, despite the fact that VDOT had recently put up a line of orange barrels in an attempt to prevent it.
He also seen plenty of drivers entering I-395 southbound from further down, like the onramp from the GW Parkway, but still realizing too late that they need to take exit 8C on the left.
Since Statter started training his cameras on this section of I-395 back in November, he says he has caught upwards of 18 accidents. All of which involve drivers trying to quickly take the left hand exit.
Statter says that part of the issue here is the design of the roads and the Pentagon, which was built nearly 70 years ago.
“There’s a lot of on-ramps in such a short period of time,” he says. “[It’s my impression] that’s not the standard for interstate highways of today.”
But a culprit also appears to be modern technology. At least until recently, app-based GPS directions like Google Maps and Apple Maps were telling drivers to engage in this dangerous lane-shifting.
Hartman Reed in his home office (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Hartman Reed with his cab in an undated photo (photo courtesy of Marguarite Reed Gooden)
Editor’s Note: The following article first appeared in the ARLnow Press Club weekend newsletter. Thank you to Press Club members for helping to fund our in-depth local features.
The phone rings on a stormy afternoon in Halls Hill and 92-year-old Hartman Reed swivels in his chair to answer it.
“Hello, Crown Cab,” he says.
Reed first started working for the long-running cab company back in 1958 as one of the first Black cab drivers in Arlington. He picked up customers in a Chevy. Today, more than six decades later, he owns the company, making it one of two Black-owned cab companies in Arlington.
Reed had a second notable job as well. He was also a firefighter at famed Fire Station No. 8 in Halls Hill. It’s believed he was one of the first paid Black firefighters south of the Mason-Dixon line.
“As I grow older, I now know how important it was to be first at things,” Reed tells ARLnow. “I now know what we did made it possible for others behind us to advance.”
For decades, Halls Hill had only a volunteer firefighter department. Even when the county started allocating money to other neighborhoods to pay their first responders in 1940, Arlington declined to do the same for Halls Hill. What’s more, fire companies in surrounding neighborhoods would not come into Halls Hill to provide help.
Finally, in the early 1950s, the county provided money to Halls Hill to hire professional firefighters. Reed, straight out of the Navy, was one of the first hired, starting on the job in 1952 at Fire Station No. 8.
He remains extremely proud of not just the work he and his fellow Halls Hill firefighters did, but the reputation they earned in the community.
“Just because we were Black, we were looked at as people who didn’t have the courage to go in and fight fires,” he says. “We had to prove ourselves. In most cases, I’d say we were outstanding as a company because we wanted to prove that we were as good or better than any other company.”
Hartman Reed’s firefighting helmet (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Fire fighting wasn’t the only community need where Jim Crow reared its ugly head in Arlington in the mid-20th century. In an era there were fewer people had cars, cabs were neighborhood necessities. However, many white-owned Arlington companies would not pick up customers in Arlington’s Black communities like Johnson’s Hill, Halls Hill, and Green Valley.
So, two companies — Friendly Cab Company and Crown Cab — were founded specifically to service those neighborhoods. A number of the cabbies were firemen, including Reed.
In 1958, fellow Fire Station No. 8 firefighter Buster Moten started Crown Cab and hired Reed as his first driver. It’s believed he was one of the first Black cab drivers in Arlington.
For about 16 years, Reed was both a firefighter and a cab driver but he says the two jobs went hand-in-hand. For one, being a cab driver helped him “learn the territory.”
“You have to know where places are when a [fire] call comes in. You can’t be hunting around,” he says. “As a cab driver, you got to know the county a lot better.”
Cabs were also there for emergencies, like hospital visits, particularly since Arlington’s Black residents were often not allowed to go to the hospital closest by.
Papa John’s Pizza has relocated to S. Glebe Road (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
The relocation of Papa John’s Pizza on Columbia Pike has left hungry customers confused.
Last month, a new Papa John’s location opened just off the Pike at 1014 S. Glebe Road. It moved into the former home of the donut shop Sugar Shack, the closing of which left a proverbial hole in the center of some local residents’ hearts.
The pizza shop essentially relocated from the now-demolished Westmont Shopping Center, which is in the midst of a major redevelopment. The Papa John’s there closed last summer and it took about a year for it to reopen across the street.
However, Papa John’s website still lists the old address — 3233A Columbia Pike — as the location of the shop. That address currently does not exist and is now a construction site.
This has left a number of customers confused about where to go to pick up their pizza, says general manager Alex Reyes. While the phone number is accurate on the website, the address is not and Reyes says he gets lots of calls from customers baffled about where to find their food.
What’s more, he says business has been unusually slow at times, likely a result of potential customers thinking that it’s closed.
Reyes has contacted Papa John’s corporate asking them to update the website with the correct address and has been told they are working on the problem.
ARLnow has reached out to Papa John’s as well but has yet to hear back as of publication.
With a couple of shopping centers on Columbia Pike undergoing redevelopment, a number of businesses have closed recently, including Atilla’s Restaurant, which had been on the Pike for nearly five decades, H&R Block, and Mom’s Pizza. Atilla’s, like Papa John’s, is on the hunt for a new space, we previously reported.
Late last week, an email was sent to residents acknowledging that it’s been a “something of a challenge” in recent weeks for curbside pick-up of trash, recycling, and green organics. The note goes on to say that the job market, driver shortages, supply chain issues, and the “early record heat” are the main culprits.
“We’re now seeing a rising number of collection routes not being completed until the next day, particularly for green organics carts that are often the last serviced due to routing based on processing facility locations,” reads the email.
Like many jurisdictions, Arlington uses a contractor for trash pick-up. That contractor is American Disposal Services.
Peter Golkin, Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services (DES) spokesperson, tells ARLnow the problem started in April, coinciding with the annual increase in green-cart organics being put curbside for pick-up — as well as the start of warmer temperatures.
He couldn’t estimate when the issues might be resolved and says the issue is “largely beyond the control of Arlington County.” Golkin notes that such challenges are also being endured by other localities in the region. American Disposal Services is continuously looking to hire more employees, but it continues to be hard, he says.
“It’s hard to give an estimated time for improved conditions… The County’s contractor has raised wages several times in the past 18 months and pays well above the County mandated living wage of $17/hour,” Golkin wrote in an email. “It’s simply difficult right now — at any wage — to find people willing to work 10-hour days doing demanding physical labor outdoors in the region’s heat conditions.”
Overall, county crews service about 6,500 households a day that put out an average of three carts, said the email sent to residents. Meaning, there are about 20,000 carts that are in need of pick-up on a daily basis, which does not include bulk items or bags of yard debris and other organics.
“It’s demanding, exhausting work easily complicated by quickly arising factors like storms and equipment failures,” it reads.
The recent hot weather is also complicating the situation. More than $3,000 worth of sports drinks have been downed by crews recently, the county said, and supply chain issues are making it hard to find replacement parts when a truck breaks down.
“Until global supply chain issues begin to ease, we anticipate vehicle breakdowns will continue to hamper collection routes,” Golkin said.
Arlington has had other recent trash problems. Last month, residents complained of overflowing public trash bins in Pentagon City and Crystal City. That issue was mostly the result of increased seasonal tourism, the county said while pledging to fix the problem.
As for what residents can do to ease the trash collection backlog, the county is asking those impacted to remain patient, report missed trash service, be considerate about the number of items left curbside, and to remember that those working “aren’t in it for the glamor.”
“The people on the trucks can always use a friendly wave or even a note of thanks taped to a cart. They perform an absolutely essential service that is so easy to take for granted,” Golkin said. “Perhaps not anymore.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) speaks with Wakefield High School students about gun violence (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Only days before graduation, Wakefield High School students questioned Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) about what can be done to pass gun legislation in Congress
Kaine paid a visit to Wakefield on Monday afternoon, in the wake of another school shooting, to speak with students about gun violence and increasing safety in their classrooms. He was joined in the school’s library by about 30 students as well as Arlington School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen and Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán.
It was four years ago when Kaine came to Wakefield to talk about the same thing.
After speaking for about 15 minutes, the Virginia senator took questions from the students — many of whom were seniors and only about ten days from graduation. The students questioned the senator about Congress’s inaction, filibustering, bans on assault rifles, and the specific impact gun violence has on communities of color.
“Why are we having the same conversations over and over again?” asked one student.
“Assault rifles are often used in shootings and their purpose is to kill as many people as possible. So, what work has been done [in banning them]?” questioned another.
“What can we do to stop this endless cycle? We protest… and nothing happens,” another student asked, clearly emotional.
Kaine listened and answered each one, expressing optimism that at least some legislation might be passed in the coming weeks that could expand background checks and red flag laws. However, he agreed with the skepticism of some of the students.
“I have to admit, I do have a little feeling of skepticism, not despondency, but I have a little feeling of skepticism,” he said. “We’ve been here before and tried this… but we can’t give up.”
Kaine brought a number of times the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that happened when he was governor. It was as an event, he said, that “scared” him and made him realize the needed urgency for gun control laws.
He also frequently touted the “Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act,” a measure that he and fellow Virginia Sen. Mark Warner introduced last year. It’s based on a series of state bills in Virginia which were signed into law in 2020, calling for universal background checks, a 30-day wait period between handgun purchases, and prohibiting those with protective orders from possessing a firearm. Notably, though, the bills didn’t ban assault weapons or high capacity magazines.
Kaine also called using the Second Amendment as reasoning for not expanding background checks, enforcing wait periods, and limiting the size of magazines as a “poppycock argument.”
“You can’t take away completely people’s right to bear arms, but you can impose reasonable regulations,” he said.
B Live, a live music and dining venue on Wilson Blvd (photo courtesy of B Live/Albert Ting)
Christal and Mike Bramson at B Live (photo courtesy of B Live/Albert Ting)
B Live, a live music and dining venue on Wilson Blvd (photo courtesy of B Live/Albert Ting)
B Live, a live music and dining venue on Wilson Blvd (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
A military helicopter flies over The Lot in Clarendon (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Clarendon Popup Bar, located inside the former Clarendon Ballroom (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
When B Live in Clarendon opened to the public earlier this month, it was a big moment for local restaurateurs Christal and Mike Bramson.
The live music venue and restaurant is not the only venture that the married team has in Arlington. They also own several other well-known Clarendon concepts, including The Lot, Clarendon Pop-Up Bar, and Pamplona on Clarendon Blvd, plus they are planning to open a new tropical-themed bar on the roof above B Live, at 2854 Wilson Blvd, later this summer.
But B Live is perhaps the Bramsons’ most ambitious project yet, particularly with the added element that it moved into the former home of iconic watering hole Whitlow’s on Wilson.
ARLnow spoke with the couple about B Live’s debut, “tropical glam,” and the future of their other popular pop-ups. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
ARLnow: B Live has been open to the public for about two weeks now. How has been it going? What has surprised you? What challenges have you all encountered so far?
Christal Bramson (CB): I think the initial thing that has struck us is that with very limited amounts of press and media, the community was clearly ready for us to open. There’s been an outpouring of support, which we embrace and love, but not necessarily ready yet for lines wrapped around the block.
Is there any pressure opening in the former home of such an iconic Arlington spot?
Mike Bramson (MB): We definitely felt the pressure going in… we have big shoes to fill. We spent a lot of time on the design and really put a lot of our heart and soul into it.
CB: Obviously, Whitlow’s is an iconic place in Arlington and just want to do credit to the historic corner we are occupying.
MB: I knew the space really well, so we kind of had an idea of what we wanted to do with it. We completely changed the look of the inside, but still kept what people knew most about [Whitlow’s], which was the music and the brunch. We did add a few elements that really made it our own. So far, people’s reactions have been amazing.
What was the thought behind opening another live music venue in Clarendon?
MB: Clarendon, historically, has had several live music venues and we saw a few of them fall away, either right before the pandemic and, then, right afterwards. The only remaining live music venue was the Renegade. They do a fantastic job and that’s a great venue, but we felt that historically there was always more than just one live music venue… there should be more than one option for live music as most towns and cities have.
As of this past weekend, they are all open with varying hours — save for the water feature at Mosaic Park. It’s currently closed for repairs, Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish says, but it should be open in about a month.
“We are still waiting for essential components to repair the Mosaic water feature,” Kalish writes, “It will be open before July 4th.”
The Ballston park underwent a $6 million renovation in 2019 after years of delays. It finally reopened to the public in late 2020.
Spraygrounds and water features are actually two different things, with spraygrounds specifically designed to be a play area for kids.
“A sprayground is a playground for children to get wet. An interactive water feature was designed for people of all ages to have fun viewing and getting wet,” Kalish notes. “Interactive water features do not meet Playground Safety Guidelines.”
The water features at Penrose Square and Mosaic Park are, despite the the all-ages designation, popular with children and families.
Of course, there are rules to follow while using the county’s spraygrounds and water features: No running, horseplay, or climbing on features is allowed. Pets are also prohibited and, please, avoid drinking the water, the parks department says. Enjoyment, though, is allowed.
“Having fun is permissible and highly encouraged,” reads the county’s website.
Just last month, Arlington’s park system was ranked number three in the nation by the non-profit Trust for Public Land. The availability of spraygrounds was cited as one of the reasons for the high ranking.
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
The Military Women’s Memorial (image via Wikimedia Commons)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
An Honor Flight of female veterans tour the newly renovated Military Women’s Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
The Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery has reopened to the public after six months of significant renovations.
The memorial opened its doors on Friday for Memorial Day weekend, after closing in late November for construction. The work focused on upgrading restrooms to make them ADA-accessible and more family-friendly, Kaprice Dyson, the memorial’s director of marketing, tells ARLnow. Additionally, the 196-seat theater was turned into a multi-purpose event space.
A phase two renovation is forthcoming at the end of 2023 that will concentrate on the exhibit galleries. The funds for the renovations came from “100% donations,” Dyson says.
As part of the reopening celebration, Military Women’s Memorial welcomed an all-woman Honor Flight yesterday (Wednesday) to be among the first groups to tour the revamped facilities. More than a hundred female veterans of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Desert Storm visited from Orlando, Florida. The oldest veteran on the trip was 96 years old.
The $22 million Military Women’s Memorial opened in October 1997 and is located at the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery. Incorporated into its facade is a retaining wall — known as a hemicycle – that was first dedicated in 1932 as part of the Memorial Bridge project. It’s celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The memorial honors the estimated three million female veterans that have served since the Revolutionary War. It’s the “nation’s only major national memorial to honor all women who have [defended] the nation,” according to its website.
The memorial also features a historical database featuring stories of women who served, etched glass tablets, reflecting pool, a 200-jet fountain, and exhibits, including one that honors the contributions of servicewomen of color to the United States. That exhibit went on display in March 2021 and is now part of the memorial’s permanent collection, Dyson says.
Over Memorial Day weekend including Friday, more than a thousand people visited the memorial, according to Dyson.
Rosa Mexicano is looking to open in the former home of Sugar Factory on S. Hayes Street (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A new casual Mexican restaurant is looking to start serving later this year at the Pentagon City mall.
Rosa Mexicano is aiming for a September 1 opening, according to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City website. It’s moving into the 5,500-square-foot former Sugar Factory space, which has an outside entrance facing S. Hayes Street.
Sugar Factory closed last year.
New York-based Rosa Mexicano has eight other locations currently open, including one at National Harbor in Maryland. Locals also might remember a previous location in D.C. across the street from Capital One Arena. That one closed last summer after 16 years.
“Given the popularity of the brand in the D.C. market, Fashion Centre felt like it was an ideal upgrade over Sugar Factory, which previously occupied the space,” Todd Jerscheid, Director of Mall Marketing and Business Development at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, tells ARLnow via email.
The decor will feature “the restaurant’s new prototype,” seen at recently-opened locations in Philadelphia and Boston, writes Jerscheid. The menu is also being “revamped,” though the restaurant is known for its guacamole prepared tables side. Rosa Mexicano also serves tacos, ceviche, enchiladas, and parrilladas (Mexican-style mixed grill).
The first Rosa Mexicano opened in New York City in 1984.
The Pentagon City mall has seen several retail bays turnover recently. Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage x Fenty opened at the mall earlier this spring. The shoe restoration business SneakerMat and a customized hoodie and t-shirt retailer both opened over the past few months. In September, a cereal restaurant several other retailers began operations.
Traffic on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge at the exits for Route 50 and the GW Parkway in 2021 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated on 6/2) Wider sidewalks may be coming to a major Potomac River crossing.
The long-awaited rehabbing of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, one of the main thoroughfares connecting Arlington to D.C., will result in a new paint job, updated overhead lights, and significant widening of sidewalks, a new D.C. Department of Transportation report says.
Later this week, the National Capital Planning Commission will meet to approve a new report that focuses on much-needed repairs and rehabilitation of 58-year-old bridge that carries I-66 traffic over the river.
Plan for expanded sidewalks on the Roosevelt Bridge (via National Capital Planning Commission)
The report calls for the bridge to be repainted to its original white color, as well as for updating the overhead lighting and doubling the sidewalk width for pedestrians on both sides of the bridge. It notes that the current sidewalk widths, varying between four and six feet, “do not meet safety standards.”
Neither do the current barriers separating pedestrians from traffic, which are steel columns that are only a few feet high.
“The existing traffic barriers between the sidewalk and traffic lanes provide minimal protection from pedestrians and do not meet current safety standards,” says the report.
While the bridge is owned, operated, and maintained by DDOT, Arlington County has a significant stake in this rehab project considering that it’s one of the main connectors to D.C.
“TR Bridge has been a subject of discussion between our staff and DDOT for over a decade. Arlington has always strongly advocated for improving pedestrian and bicycle facilities on the TR Bridge,” Arlington County Director of Transportation Dennis Leach told ARLnow. “The existing conditions, both on the north side and south side, are pretty meager and really not up to current standards.”
There are also “long term goals” to further connect the sidewalks to more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares.
On the north side, the walkway connects the Mount Vernon trail in Rosslyn to the Kennedy Center Reach ramp. However, on the south side, the sidewalk currently does not connect to any trail or pedestrian-accessible walkway. Leach acknowledges that taking the south side walkway from D.C. to Rosslyn the entire way currently ends in a dangerous place.
“You end up in the middle of the ramp system between Arlington Boulevard, Route 50, 110, and the Parkway,” he says.
The National Park Service, Arlington County, and the Virginia Department of Transportation are working together to look into the possibility of connecting the south side of the Roosevelt Bridge sidewalk to the Marine Corps War Memorial near Rosslyn, Leach notes.
He also brought up that beyond day-to-day traffic, the Roosevelt Bridge is a particularly important connection between Rosslyn and the National Mall, be it for emergency response or for special events like the Fourth of July. The entire bridge length is about 3,200 feet or about .7 miles, so it is short enough to walk and bike across.
“Currently, the sidewalk infrastructure is insufficient to provide good, safe connections between the National Mall and Rosslyn,” Leach says.
Despite it being unsafe, DDOT tells ARLnow that they are “not aware”of any pedestrian-related incidents or accidents within the bridge sidewalk.
In terms of repainting work that also will be done, that has more to do with “a cohesive aesthetic” than safety.
“Staff recommends that the Commission note that DDOT would repaint all structural steel on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to match its original white color designed to create a cohesive aesthetic between the bridge and nearby monuments and the Arlington Memorial Bridge,” reads the report.
Work isn’t expected to start for awhile, though. The project’s final design phase won’t completed for another year, a DDOT spokesperson writes to ARLnow in an email, until early summer 2023. At this point, it’s anticipated that construction will begin at the end of 2023 or early 2024 and will take four to five years to complete, the spokesperson said.
However, the sidewalk widening will be among the first elements of the project to be completed and could happen by the end of 2024.
Nonetheless, Leach is confident that when the project does happen, the widening of sidewalks and adding better barriers separating pedestrians from traffic on the Roosevelt Bridge will make Arlington a more pedestrian-friendly place.
“We’ve talked about this project for over a decade,” he says. “These long term collaborations actually yield results. And I think this bridge rehab will bring a really good result for the District, Arlington and the region.”
