News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Haze overhead in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

‘Missing Middle’ Permits Approved — “Arlington County approved its first three expanded housing option permits that will allow developers to move forward on building a 6-plex housing unit, a three townhouse complex, and a two-unit project… on lots in different parts of the county previously zoned for single-family housing. One of the projects approved by Arlington County is located uphill from an area in the Cherrydale and Waverly Hills neighborhoods in which the county is taking measures to address flooding issues.” [Patch]

Late Night Fire at Apartment Building — From Dave Statter, about a Sunday night incident: “Video of @ArlingtonVaFD arriving at the Crystal Plaza Apartments, 2111 Richmond Highway, about 30 minutes ago. A fire was found in the boiler room.” [Twitter]

Arrest for Attempted Break-in — “At approximately 7:31 p.m. on August 19, police were dispatched to a mental health call for service. Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was walking in the area when the known male suspect attempted to engage her in conversation. The victim walked away and into a residential building during which the suspect followed her. The victim was then inside her apartment when she observed the suspect allegedly attempt to force entry to the residence and asked him to leave. Officers located the suspect in another residential building in the 200 block of N. Glebe Road and took him into custody.” [ACPD]

Some APS Vacancies Remain — “They’ll be close, but Arlington Public Schools’ ranks of teachers and bus drivers are unlikely to be at 100 percent come the start of school on Aug. 28. The school system as of Aug. 17 still had 58 full-time teacher slots to fill, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members.” [Gazette Leader]

More Photos from Fair — “The 2023 Arlington County Fair benefited from Mother Nature’s nice side, as the weather cooperated for the tens of thousands who turned up to enjoy fun for all ages.” [Gazette Leader]

Signs of Summer’s Ending — From the Pentagon City mall: “Behold the spookiest collection of potions, oddities and curiosities at @bathbodyworks #Halloween.” From Starbucks: “👀🎃” [Twitter, Twitter]

New Parkington Photo Collection — “Before it was known as the #Ballston Quarter, #Parkington was the largest shopping center on the East Coast. Explore our #CenterForLocalHistory’s new chronicle of Parkington’s rise and retirement with more than 200 never-before-seen photos.” [Twitter, Arlington Public Library]

It’s Tuesday — A mostly sunny day with a high temperature near 84°F and a north wind at about 10 mph. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low around 63°F, and a Northeast wind around 6 mph will become calm after midnight. [Weather.gov]

Plans for DCA pedestrian bridge take shape, as more public input sought

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Plans to build the future pedestrian bridge from Crystal City to National Airport are firming up.

A new report outlines the impact the bridge could have on the environment. It also details how the project will relate to separate plans to redo roadways and add more parking, new car rental facility and office space.

The environmental assessment says the impact on scenic views for drivers on the GW Parkway, as well as vegetation removal, is expected to be relatively minimal. Up to 146 trees could be removed for construction and the area would later be replanted.

Now through Oct. 3, community members can comment online on the report, Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Erin Potter tells ARLnow. They can also attend a public hearing on Sept. 19 at the Aurora Hills Recreation Center (735 18th Street S.).

Even with the pedestrian bridge, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which governs DCA and Dulles International Airport, says it does not project reduced vehicle traffic to and from the airport. As such, it is designing significant upgrades for drivers.

“The overall number of passengers and employees shifting to the multi-modal access would not have a notable effect on the forecast traffic demand on the Airport roadway network or the demand for on-Airport passenger and employee parking,” a report for the MWAA project says.

While MWAA is not leading the bridge project, it did have input on where the pedestrian bridge could go, the report says. It notes that where the bridge goes and what angle it is at will not alter the project’s environmental impacts.

MWAA asked Arlington County and the Virginia Dept. of Transportation to move the bridge to reduce impacts on existing parking and accommodate a proposed elevated ramp west of the West Entrance Road, the report says.

“Arlington County and the CC2DCA project team have been working closely with MWAA staff to coordinate delivery of the safety and access improvements provided by both projects,” says Potter.

Construction on the CC2DCA bridge is expected to begin construction in late 2027 and last for two years, Potter said. Since MWAA is still finalizing a timeline for its road improvements, VDOT and Arlington are blocking off an area where the bridge could go and deciding on a final alignment later.

The new report describes how the preferred option marries two other alternatives: one that crossed the GW Parkway and Mount Vernon Trail at a significant angle and another that provided a straight shot. The new renderings also show that, of the two Mount Vernon Trail link options, a more curved path was chosen.

CC2DCA pedestrian bridge alternatives (by ARLnow)

As planning efforts continue for projects at DCA, the surrounding area is set to see changes, too.

An airport access road is set to be removed to make way for a redevelopment project proposed by JBG Smith. Near the Crystal City-side of the bridge, a second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station and a new Virginia Railway Express station and Amtrak platform are being built.

Meanwhile, the Mount Vernon Trail is set to be widened to 11 feet, a planned Crystal City bicycle network could be completed next year and the bus rapid transit network will be extended to Pentagon City.

An acoustic fence is coming to Walter Reed pickleball courts — a couple of years ahead of schedule

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Those living near Walter Reed Community Center may soon get a reprieve from the pickleball pop.

Next week, a 10-foot-tall acoustic fence will be installed at the multi-use pickleball and tennis courts at 2909 16th Street S., south of Columbia Pike.

It is set to go up between Monday, Aug. 28 and Friday, Sept. 1, weather permitting, per a county press release.

The fence caps off months of escalating tensions and comes more than a month after a splashy New York Times article about the neighborhood and its pickleball plight.

Already a pickleball hub, the community center is set to become home to dedicated pickleball courts as part of the Walter Reed Outdoor Pickleball Court project. After hearing from disgruntled neighbors, some of whom considered pursuing legal action, the county decided to add noise-mitigating features — including acoustic fencing.

Some residents welcomed these changes but pointed out they would take a couple of years — leaving them to deal with the noise until then. The fencing going up next week could reduce noises some two years ahead of schedule.

The fencing will be up until construction starts, says Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Jerry Solomon. It will be properly stored and reused when more acoustic fencing goes up as part of the pickleball project.

Beyond acoustic fencing, other elements of DPR’s plans to add dedicated pickleball facilities to Walter Reed have changed in response to public feedback. The department intends to add sound walls and landscaping, build six courts rather than nine and locate them further from neighbors.

Since the noise complaints began, DPR has taken other steps to reduce the incessant “pock” sound.

Last fall, the parks department reduced the court’s operating hours to open from sunrise or 7 a.m., whichever is later, to close at 10 p.m. This spring, it again reduced playing hours to match those of the community center. DPR added locks to the gates at close to ensure people do not sneak for after-hours play.

The biggest noise reduction, however, could be a temporary ban on play next Monday through Friday for the fence installation.

“Play will not be allowed on these days between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” the county said in a release. “If you are looking for alternative locations to play while Walter Reed courts are closed, please check out the County’s pickleball and tennis webpages.”

Suspects armed with ‘AK-47’ rob man after rear-end crash

By ARLnow.com
Police car speeding to a call at night (staff photo)

Arlington County police are investigating an armed robbery in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood early Friday morning.

The robbery happened around 1:30 a.m. at the intersection of S. Arlington Ridge Road and 23rd Street S.

The victim told police that he was rear-ended by a black Ford Mustang or Dodge Charger, and then two men dressed in ski masks and all black clothing got out, armed with an AK-47 or similar gun, and robbed him of jewelry.

More from an ACPD crime report:

…the victim was stopped in his vehicle at a traffic light when the suspect vehicle rear ended him. The victim exited his vehicle and approached the suspect vehicle when Suspects One and Two exited their vehicle. Suspect One assaulted the victim causing him to fall to the ground and Suspect Two threatened the victim with a firearm and demanded his belongings. The victim gave the suspects his jewelry before they reentered their vehicle and fled the scene. The victim sustained minor injuries and did not require medical attention.

Officers were unable to locate the suspect vehicle, which was believed to have been driven off in the direction of I-395 and D.C.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Ballston Quarter (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Solidcore Moving HQ to Rosslyn — “A growing boutique fitness company is moving its corporate headquarters again, this time from D.C. to Rosslyn, in search of more space. Come September, Solidcore Holdings LLC — branded as [solidcore] — will move out of its offices at 1728 14th St. NW in the District, where it takes 6,700 square feet. The company will move to 1735 N. Lynn St. in Rosslyn, where it inked a lease in June for 12,000 square feet.” [Washington Business Journal]

Attic Fire in Green Valley — “Fire in the attic of a Green Valley duplex is out, per ACFD. Sizable response remains on scene.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Retired Arlingtonian Lands Nats Role — “After cheering the Washington Nationals to a 2019 World Series victory, Tanya Schneider went online to buy a package of tickets for the following spring. A phrase caught her attention: ‘Join our team.’ ‘Maybe I could be one of the racing presidents,’ she thought, envisioning the iconic mascots of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, who provide comic relief during the fourth inning. Then she saw the posting for ball girl. She applied.” [Arlington Magazine]

Tomb Guard Recounts Storm — “Army Pfc. Jessica Kwiatkowski leaned forward as she walked against the wind and rain. As a Tomb Guard with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, she walked her twenty-one steps in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in the middle of a violent rainstorm on the evening of Saturday, July 29, 2023. Amid the storm, she walked her post without the ability to see.” [Dept. of Defense, Twitter]

NYT References Weenie Beenie — “Underneath the blanket of saucy chili and beyond the chopped onions and yellow mustard that are vital to a Half Smoke served “all the way” is the signature sausage that defines this capital classic. While the smoky, slightly spicy pork-and-beef links were invented as breakfast fare at the Weenie Beenie, they are now available at establishments throughout the city. But no purveyor is more famous than Ben’s Chili Bowl, the U Street monument to meat.” [New York Times]

New ARLnow Podcast Episode — “We’re still rehearsing and testing the format for our revamped ARLnow Podcast, but wanted to give listeners a preview of what we’re working on. Jo, James and Scott were joined this week by guest host Rahmein Mostafavi.” [Libsyn]

Nearby: Route 50 Paving — “Beginning Monday night, Aug. 21, eastbound Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) will have lane closures between Graham Road and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) for milling and paving work, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Through Monday night, Sept. 18, the single-lane closures will occur Sunday nights through Thursday nights between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. each night. This work will occur on eastbound Route 50 only; all lanes of westbound Route 50 will remain open.” [VDOT]

It’s Monday — Partly sunny conditions with a high temperature reaching around 94°F and a gentle northwest wind blowing at 3 to 6 mph. As the evening approaches, expect increasing cloudiness and a low temperature settling around 71°F, accompanied by a light north wind, also between 3 to 6 mph. [Weather.gov]

Another segment of Columbia Pike to see construction and road closures next month

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

For years, parts of Columbia Pike have been under construction, resulting in wider sidewalks, newly-planted trees and underground utilities, among other changes.

Now, work on the penultimate phase of the years-long Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements project is slated to begin in September, according to the county. Work could begin on the final phase early next year.

Starting in September, the county will upgrade the Pike’s streetscape, enhance transit infrastructure, replace aging water and sewer mains and bury utility lines between S. Garfield Street and S. Courthouse Road.

The final segment, from S. Courthouse Road to S. Quinn Street, could begin in early 2024 and wrap up in late 2025, according to Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors.

A contract for this phase was approved earlier this summer, the Gazette Leader reported.

Streetscape improvements to the Pike have been ongoing for nearly two decades.

The first segment was completed back in 2009, Pors said. The next two segments were completed in 2015, one by the county and the other by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation.

Concurrently, the county also created “bike boulevards” parallel to the Pike, diverting cyclists from car-heavy corridor in advance of the planned, but never built, streetcar.

Last year, the county started working on improvements between S. Wakefield Street and S. Oakland Street and S. Orme Street and S. Oak Street. The federal government is handling similar upgrades east of S. Oak Street as part of its project to realign the road to accommodate the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery.

Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvement Project overview (via Arlington County)

Before getting started on the S. Garfield Street to S. Courthouse Road segment, county staff will hold pop-ups and open houses in the area to inform community members of the changes, Pors said.

She added that the team has not yet come up with a final work schedule, though work will likely be less intense than the currently under construction portion of the Pike between S. Quincy Street and S. Oakland Street.

Work hours will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the county website.

“Residents should expect to see and hear dust, mud, noise, debris, and temporary traffic and parking restrictions,” the website says. “In locations where parking will be prohibited during work, no parking signs will be posted.”

“These roadway changes are essential for the contractors to construct a safer and more accessible Columbia Pike in an efficient and safe manner while maintaining access to residences and businesses along the corridor,” Arlington County says on its website.

This work has previously closed lanes on other stretches of the Pike and even resulted on the occasional rogue utility pole.

D.C. man arrested, facing new charges in sexual assault case

By ARLnow.com
Break-in and sexual assault suspect (photos courtesy ACPD, photo composition by ARLnow)

A 34-year-old D.C. man was arrested last month in a high-profile Arlington sexual assault case.

Police say they suspect Geremy Bridgeforth is the man who broke into a woman’s apartment in Virginia Square on April 2 and sexually assaulted her. That attack was followed by a subsequent early-morning apartment break-in on April 12, in Courthouse, in which the victim was touched inappropriately.

Blurry surveillance photos of the suspect were released by police a few days later.

In an update in the case Thursday afternoon, Arlington County police announced additional charges against Bridgeforth, who according to court records was arrested on July 14.

Following a comprehensive criminal investigation, the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is announcing charges have been obtained in the April 2 incident in the Ballston-Virginia Square neighborhood. Geremy Bridgeforth, 34, of Washington D.C. is charged with Burglary with Intent to Commit Murder/Rape/Robbery and Object Sexual Penetration. During the course of the investigation, detectives determined that between April 1 and April 2, the suspect entered additional residences in the 3900 block of Fairfax Drive and stole property. He was charged with Burglary (x2), Credit Card Theft (x2), Credit Card Fraud (x2) and Petit Larceny related to those offenses. Additionally, Mr. Bridgeforth was charged with Burglary with Intent to Commit Murder/Rape/Robbery and Aggravated Sexual Battery in the April 12 incident in the Clarendon-Courthouse neighborhood. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.

Bridgeforth has a number of prior arrests and convictions in Arlington dating between 2015-2021, according to court records, for crimes including fare evasion, trespassing and indecent exposure. Most recently he served a net two months in jail on the 2021 indecent exposure charges, court records suggest.

Multiple residents told ARLnow at the time that the Courthouse break-ins followed the installation of new smart locks, which some claimed would leave apartment doors open even when an app said it was locked.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The flag atop an office building in Courthouse blowing in the wind (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Clarendon Gym-Office Combo Highlighted — “Jessica DiGiovanna starts her Mondays at 6:30 a.m. with squats, dead lifts and lunges at her local Life Time gym. Afterward, she showers, gets dressed—and stays, working on her laptop and phone until about 6 p.m. Her new office is the gym, on the fourth floor, in a co-working space scented with notes of bergamot and stocked with a basket of fruit and energy bars. DiGiovanna, a 25-year-old audit project manager in Arlington, Va., only goes to her real office for big meetings and other organized events.” [Wall Street Journal]

New Raise for Arlington Startup — “ElectroTempo, an Arlington company that uses analytics to project electric vehicle use and demand for charging stations, has raised $4 million in a seed round to expand its team, refine its software and move into slightly larger space. The round, announced Wednesday, was led by Buoyant Ventures, a Chicago investment firm focused on startups combating climate change, with participation from Zebox, a French accelerator and incubator for logistics startups whose U.S. headquarters is in Crystal City.” [Washington Business Journal]

Vote Dropboxes to Stay — “A proposal to reduce the amount of time the nine 24/7 dropboxes for Arlington voter ballots are available this fall was punted to next year, at the earliest, at the Aug. 10 Electoral Board meeting… On a per-capita basis, Arlington has by far the largest number of 24/7 dropboxes among Northern Virginia localities.” [Gazette Leader]

Preservation Group Helps With Roof Repair — “The local chapter of the Questers, an international preservation group, has joined the effort to maintain Arlington’s oldest dwelling. The organization earlier this year learned about the Ball-Sellers House, owned and operated by the Arlington Historical Society, and decided the property deserved its support. As a result, the Questers’ Patowmack Seekers chapter presented the historical society with a check for $2,000 to help fix the roof.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Friday — Sunny with a high temperature of approximately 84 degrees, accompanied by a northwest wind blowing at 9 to 14 mph and gusts reaching up to 21 mph. During Friday night, the sky will be clear and the temperature will drop to around 61 degrees with a northwest wind blowing at a speed of 6 to 10 mph. [Weather.gov]

Dominion Energy says burying power lines in Arlington complex and costly

By James Jarvis
Fallen power line caused by July 29 storm in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated on 8/18/23) After a late July tempest plunged roughly 35,000 Arlington residents into darkness, ARLnow posed a pressing question to Virginia’s largest electric utility: Why not move all power lines underground?

The short answer is red tape and price.

Local elected officials have been interested in burying power lines since the 1980s, as doing so can reduce power outages and restoration times after storm-induced outages. The trade-offs, however, include cost, customer buy-in and longer repair times.

Historically, cost has been the biggest deterrent. Virginia, Dominion and Arlington County have balked at spearheading efforts at their respective levels, citing costs. This has left the utility company and Arlington County to piece together a patchwork approach prioritizing vulnerable lines, willing property owners and deep-pocketed developers.

Whenever a storm blows through, however, causing power disruptions and requiring maintenance work, the question of a broader effort resurfaces.

In an interview, Dominion spokeswoman Peggy Fox underscored two obstacles.

First, the utility company needs permission from property owners, also known as an easement, to access their land. People do not always grant that permission because, Fox said, “not everybody wants the construction that goes along with it.”

“We can’t just come in and do what we want. These are people’s properties, and we want to work with them,” she said in a phone interview.

Second, burying power lines would cost billions of dollars.

After Hurricane Isabel devastated Virginia’s electrical grid in 2003, the Virginia General Assembly tasked the State Corporation Commission — which regulates utilities in Virginia — with studying the feasibility of relocating the state’s overhead distribution power lines underground.

The study says the project aimed to decrease weather-related utility interruptions, reduce maintenance costs and lessen “visual pollution.”

Elected officials scrapped the project after learning it could cost around $83 billion, to be borne by utility customers via higher taxes or rates, and could cause “significant disruptions.”

“The potential benefits, both to the utilities and to the economy, resulting from the elimination of tree trimming maintenance, vehicle accidents, post-storm restoration, and lost sales during outages, do not appear to be sufficient to offset the initial construction costs associated with a comprehensive program to relocate the currently existing overhead utility distribution lines to underground,” the report stated.

Fox said she cannot “pinpoint” how much it would cost to underground all overhead power lines in Arlington, let alone the state. Adjusted for inflation, $83 billion would be roughly $130 billion today.

Arlington County has also shied away from taking on this work over costs. In 2015, then-Arlington County Board Chair Mary Hynes said a local effort to bury electrical and telecommunication wires would cost billions of dollars the county did not have, the Sun Gazette reported at the time.

Nevertheless, Dominion and the county have taken steps to move underground several miles of power lines in Arlington.

In 2014, Dominion embarked on its Strategic Underground Plan (SUP) to bury 4,000 miles of vulnerable overhead lines throughout the state. So far, it has buried around 1,907 miles — nearly the halfway point.

(more…)

Arlington man arrested for Shirlington stabbing

By ARLnow.com
Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

A man was stabbed and seriously injured last night in the Shirlington area.

The stabbing happened just after 10:30 p.m. at an apartment complex on the 4400 block of 31st Street S. It led to a suspect search that resulted in the arrest of a 28-year-old Arlington man who knew the victim, according to police.

It’s unclear what prompted the stabbing.

“At approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 16, police were dispatched to the report of a stabbing,” Arlington County police said in a crime report today. “Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was outside of the residential building when the male suspect, who is known to him, approached him and allegedly stabbed him with a knife. A struggle ensued over the knife during which the victim suffered additional injuries.”

“The suspect then left the scene and the victim entered the building where the reporting party called police,” the crime report continues. “Upon police arrival, officers immediately began rendering medical aid to the victim and he was transported to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening.”

While police and medics treated the victim, officers also established a perimeter and searched for the suspect, who was still at large and believed to be nearby.

“During the course of the investigation, officers determined the suspect was inside another residential building in the 4400 block of 31st Street S., established a perimeter and took him into custody without incident,” ACPD recounted. “The suspect was transported to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries.”

The suspect, 28, was charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding and held without bond.

Court records show the suspect was charged last year in Arlington with being a violent felon in possession of a weapon, but charges were later dropped. Soon thereafter he was arrested on a felony marijuana charge and later convicted of an amended misdemeanor charge, which came with a fine but no jail time.

Arlington County buys electric buses for its fleet

By Jo DeVoe
The Gillig bus rolls through Ballston (courtesy Dept. of Environmental Services)

(Updated at 9:30 a.m. on 8/23/23) Arlington County’s efforts to electrify transit just jolted forward.

Arlington’s transit system, ART, is getting its first batch of battery electric buses, or BEB, as it pursues carbon neutrality by 2050, according to a press release. The vehicles will be deployed in late 2024 after work wraps up on the new Operations and Maintenance Facility on Shirlington Road.

With $3.3 million in state and $1.2 million in local funds, the county is buying four American-made buses by the company Gillig, which drivers and riders tested out along with other options over the last year.

“Delivering transit service is at the core of who we are and what we do, when it comes to realizing our vision of smart growth that is environmentally conscious and sustainable,” Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a statement.

Transit Bureau Chief Lynn Rivers said in a statement that this purchase is the county’s second step toward a “greener, healthier future for Arlington Transit.”

“The first step began with our public vehicle demonstrations of BEB technology,” she said. “The partnership with Gillig points us in the right direction for a reliable and resilient zero-emission transit fleet that contributes to a cleaner, healthier County.”

The release says the battery electric buses are part of an effort to test out new technologies while maintaining current reliable levels of service.

Arlington’s Transit Bureau could also be testing out advances in fuel technology for 15 buses it is buying to replace aging vehicles within ART’s 78-bus fleet.

Unlike the four electric buses, these 15 will be powered by compressed natural gas — essentially compressed methane — like the rest of the ART fleet. While compressed natural gas produces fewer emissions than petrol, is still considered nonrenewable because underground reservoirs make up its largest source.

For the 15 new buses, the transit bureau is looking at using renewable natural gas, or methane that has already been used or captured from landfill emissions, Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors told ARLnow.

Meanwhile, the county is outfitting its forthcoming bus operations and maintenance facility with electric charging capabilities.

Initially, the county aimed to get electric buses operating from the facility in 2025, but the 2024 deployment date means it is ahead of schedule.

“The facility is projected to reach substantial completion in 2024 — a little faster than initially expected, and we are expecting to receive revisions of the 100% design for BEB infrastructure in the fall of this year,” Pors said.

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